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THE    ADDRESS 


HON.  WM.  A.  GRAHAM 


gkhltnburg  gctlaration  of 


20TH  OF  MAT,  1775. 


DELIVERED  AT  CHARLOTTE,  ON  THE  4TH  DAT  OP  FEB'Y,  1875,  BY  REQUEST 

OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY.     WITH  ACCOMPANYING 

DOCUMENTS,  INCLUDING  THOSE  PUBLISHED-  BY  ORDER  OF  THE 

LEGISLATURE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA  IN  THE  YEAR  1831. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  CENTRAL  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE 
CENTENNIAL  AND  MONUMENTAL  ASSOCIATION. 


NEW  YORK : 
E.  J.  HALE  &  SON,  PUBLISHERS, 

HURRA  Y    STREET. 
1875. 


86954 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875,  by 

E.  J.  HALE  &  SON, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


LANGE,  LITTLE  &  Co., 
108  TO  114  WOOSTEB  ST.,  N.  Y. 


DECLARATION   OF  INDEPENDENCE 

BY  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OP 

MECKLENBURG  COUNTY,  N.  C., 

ON  THE 

TWENTIETH  OF  MAY,  1775. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  History,  American  and  English,  Congressional  and  Pro- 
vincial, with  observations  on  the  characters  of  the  chief  witnesses 
who  testified  of  it,  as  known  to  the  writer  from  personal 
acquaintance,  or  their  reputation  among 
their  contemporaries. 

A  MEMORIAL  ADDRESS 

At  a  Mass  Meeting  in  Charlotte,  Feb.  4th,  1875,  preparatory  to  its  Centennial 
Celebration. 


BY  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 


I  ESTEEM  it  the  duty  of  some  one  who  has  had  op- 
portunities of  acquaintance  with  the  Revolutionary 
history  of  the  State,  and  this  a  fit  occasion,  to  vindi- 
cate the  authenticity  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence by  the  delegates  of  the  people  of  the  County  of 
Mecklenburg  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  against  the 
attempts  recently  made  to  bring  it  into  discredit. 
With  some  recollections  of  the  discussion  of  this 
topic,  running  back  more  than  half  a  century,  I  have 
taken  no  part  in  it  heretofore.  The  event  occurred 
(as  I  believe  it  did  occur)  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  residence  of  the  families  from  which  I  am  de- 
scended. Several  of  my  near  relatives,  including  my 
Father,  when  it  was  called  in  question  soon  after  its 
publication  in  the  gazettes  of  1819-20,  gave  their 


4  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

testimony  as  witnesses  who  had  been  personally  pres- 
ent at  the  transaction,  with  references  to  some  of  the 
circumstances  of  the  occasion,  as  well  as  to  precedent 
and  subsequent  events.  I  deemed  it  proper  not  to 
participate  in  the  controversy  as  to  the  credibility  of 
this  testimony  while  these  witnesses  were  alive — the 
more  especially  as  I  thought  the  claim  on  the  part  of 
Mecklenburg  well  sustained  by  others.  But  those 
who  championed  the  cause  of  the  State  (for  it  has 
been  made  a  State  matter)  have  all  passed  away— 
Martin,  Jo.  Seawell  Jones,  Foote,  Hawks,  are  no 
longer  among  the  living.  The  witnesses  to  whom  I 
have  alluded,  and  those  others  whose  evidence  was 
then  taken,  their  comrades  and  neighbors,  with  whom 
they  had  passed  through  the  fiery  trials  of  the  war 
which  ensued,  are  all  likewise  dead.  We  may  now 
speak  of  them  without  flattery,  and,  I  trust,  without 
vanity.  If  my  connection  with  some  of  them  shall 
induce  a  suspicion  of  bias  on  the  one  hand,  unfavorable 
to  impartial  consideration,  I  hope  it  will  be  conceded 
on  the  other  that  it  gave  me  opportunities  of  infor- 
mation in  respect  to  their  traditions,  and  to  public 
opinion  in  the  region  of  this  occurrence,  as  far  back 
as  my  memory  extends,  not  accessible  to  strangers, 
and  not  possessed  by  many  now  surviving.  I  had 
preferred  that  the  duty  of  this  vindication  should 
have  been  undertaken  by  other  hands,  but  on  consul- 
tation with  the  Hunters,  Brevards,  Polks,  Alexan- 
ders, and  others,  whose  ancestors  were  either  actors 
in  or  witnesses  of  the  event  in  question,  though  they 
felt  that  injustice  had  been  done  by  the  publications 


ADDRESS  OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  5 

referred  to,  and  desired  that  the  truth  of  history.  as 
we  understood  it  in  the.  State,  should  be  asserted, 
they  were  unprepared  for  the  discussion.  Of  twenty 
copies  of  the  publication,  by  order  of  the  Legislature 
in  1830,  of  the  evidence  in  relation  to  the  Mecklen- 
burg Declaration,  directed  to  be  deposited  in  the 
State  Library,  but  one  remains.  Of  the  local  news- 
paper*, the  Western  Carolinian,  established  at  Salis- 
bury in  1820,  and  the  Yadkin  and  Gataioba  Jour- 
nal, and  MIIX-I-X  and  Farmers'  Journal,  published 
in  Charlotte  at  a  later  period,  which  may  contain  ar- 
ticles on  this  theme  when  its  agitation  was  fresh,  and 
eye  and  ear  witnesses  of  the  event  were  alive,  the 
files  are  nowhere  to  be  found.  The  difficulty,  there- 
fore, of  now  procuring  all  the  evidence  bearing  on 
this  subject  which  satisfied  the  country  fifty  odd 
years  ago,  rises  to  an  impossibility.  Enough,  how- 
ever, I  apprehend,  is  within  our  reach  to  establish  the 
authentic  character  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration, 
according  to  the  accepted  evidence  of  historical 
truth. 

The  position  we  maintain  is  very  readily  stated. 
It  is,  that  the  resistance  to  British  authority,  which 
assumed  the  form  of  war  in  1775,  was  not  begun,  or 
waired  on  the  part  of  the  colonies  generally,  or  the 
( 'i  mgress  which  represented  them,  witli  any  view  to  a 
s  'venture  of  the  empire,  before  late  in  the  spring  of 
1  77'!.  Like  the  risings  against  King  John.  Charles  I. 
and  James  II.,  it  contemplated  only  a  reformation  of 
abuses  and  redress  of  grievances,  as  British  subjects 
niuler  the  crown. of  the  monarch,  but  did  not  contein- 


6  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

plate  a  change  of  government  or  freedom  from  the 
dominion  of  their  King  and  country  beyond  the  sea : 
that  North  Carolina,  and  especially  the  people  of 
Mecklenburg,  formed  an  exception  to  this  general  sen- 
timent of  loyalty.  The  leading  spirits,  in  that  coun- 
ty and  elsewhere,  were  ripe  for  revolution  from  the 
beginning.  They  were  opposed  to  monarchy,  had 
little  or  no  attachment  to  the  mother  country,  were 
chafed  by  recent  provocations  in  the  actual  operation 
of  the  government,  and  were  ready  to  throw  it  off  at 
any  favorable  opportunity.  Hence  their  decided  and 
manly  action  in  proclaiming  Independence  on  the 
20th  of  May,  1775,  in  advance  of  all  the  other  colo- 
nies. This  proud  distinction  we  claim  for  them,  and, 
at  the  disadvantage  of  having  to  meet  a  challenge  of 

o  o  o 

this  claim  at  the  end  of  nearly  a  hundred  years  from 
the  act,  and  more  than  the  third  of  a  century  after  the 
last  of  the  attesting  witnesses  departed  this  life,  trust 
to  make  it  good. 

It  may  conduce  to  the  better  understanding  of  our 
observations,  before  proceeding  further  in  the  discus- 
sion, to  state  the  condition  of  the  question  as  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence in  North  Carolina.  There  are  some  facts 
which  have  occurred  within  the  time  of  living  memory 
about  which  I  presume  there  can  be  no  dispute  : 

I.  No  one,  I  apprehend,  doubts  that  the  men  of 
Mecklenburg,  who  were  old  enough  to  remember  the 
events  of  1775,  and  survived  till  1819  and  1820  and 
1830,  believed  there  had  been  a  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence at  Charlotte,  on  the  20th  of  May,  in  the  year 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  7 

first  mentioned,  and  that  they  themselves  witnessed 
its  promulgation. 

II.  That  not  only  was  this  conviction  prevalent 
among  those  who  had  remained  in  that  county  in  the 
interim,  but  was  shared  by  those  who  had  emigrated 
to  Georgia,  Tennessee  and  elsewhere. 

III.  That  the  whole  people  of  Mecklenburg,  with- 
out distinction  from  difference  in  religious  opinion, 
political  parties  or  personal  antipathies  or  rivalries, 
were  likewise  impressed  with  this  conviction,  and 
from  early  after  the  year  1820  onward,  united  in  cel- 
ebrating the  anniversary  of  the  day  of  the  Declaration 
at  Charlotte,  with  all  the  demonstrations  tending  to 
commemorate  a  great  event.     Among  these  celebra- 
tions we  have  reports  of  three  of  the  most  memora- 
ble. 

In  1825,*  as  we  learn  from  the  Raleigh  Register^ 
an  immense  concourse  attended,  and  beside  a  parade 
of  the  military,  an  oration  was  pronounced  by  Wash- 
ington Morrison,  Esq.,  a  lawyer  of  repute,  subsequent- 
ly a  Senator  from  the  county  in  the  State  Legislature, 
but  since  'deceased  :  and  the  religious  exercises  were 
conducted  by  the  Rev.  Humphrey  Hunter,  who  also 
read  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  of  the  announce- 
ment of  which  he  had  been  a  witness  fifty  years  an- 
terior, when  past  the  age  of  twenty,  with  comments 
on  the  circumstances  which  had  accompanied  it.  At 
the  public  festival  of  the  occasion  General  George 
Graham  acted  as  President,  and  Clerk  Isaac  Alexan- 
der as  Vice  President,  both  of  whom  had  given  their 

•June  7th,  1825. 


8  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

written  testimony,  as  had  Mr.  Hunter,  as  personal  wit- 
nesses of  the  Declaration,  and  both  of  whom,  like  him. 
had  done  soldiers'  duty  in  the  war  which  followed.  But 
the  most  interesting  feature  of  the  day,  of  which  the 
published  report  informs  us,  was  that  a  band  of  Rev- 
olutionary soldiers,  numbering  from  sixty  to  seventy, 
probably  all  then  residing  in  this  old  county  of  sol- 
diers, marched  at  the  head  of  the  procession  with  the 
simple  badge  "75  on  the  lappel  of  the  coat. 

On  the  anniversary  in  1835,  there  was  probably 
the  most  imposing  assemblage  that  ever  attended  a 
like  celebration  in  the  State.  The  Hon.  D.  L.  Swain, 
the  Governor  then  in  office,  the  Hon.  Willie  P.  Man- 
gum,  one  of  the  Senators  in  Congress,  were  present, 
with  many  of  the  most  prominent  public  characters 
of  the  State,  and  others,  who  did  not  attend  in  person, 
sent  letters  of  apology.  The  Western  Carolinian,  of 
which' I  have  a  single  number,  copying  from  the  Mi- 
ners and  Farmers'  Journal,  printed  in  Charlotte, 
May  29th,  1835,  gives  a  detailed  report  of  the  cele- 
bration, and,  among  other  things,  that  letters  were 
read  from  Judge  Gaston,  Judge  Ruffin,  Hon.  II.  "\V. 
Conner,  Mr.  Calhoun,  Mr.  Preston,  and  Gov.  Mc- 
Duffie  of  South  Carolina,  Judge  White  of  Tennessee, 
J3.  "Watkins  Leigh  of  Virginia,  and  others. 

The  sentiment  accompanying  the  letter  of  Judge 
Gaston  was  as  follows:  "American  liberty — here 
first  declared  and  here  most  sacredly  cherished — 
boldly  resolved  on — long  struggled  for  and  nobly  de- 
fended— it  must  be  preserved  by  the  virtue,  wisdom, 
vigilance,  and  union  of  American  freemen." 


ADDKESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  9 

The  oration  of  the  day  was  delivered  by  Franklin 
L.  Smith,  a  native  of  Charlotte,  a  young  advocate  of 
hiii'h  promise,  who  was  consigned  to  an  early  grave 
in  Mississippi,  to  which  State  he  had  emigrated. 
The  Declaration  was  read,  with  appropriate  remarks, 
by  James  "W.  Osborne,  Esq.,  of  Charlotte,  subse- 
quently a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  a  gentleman 
of  acknowledged  ability  and  culture,  and  probably 
better  versed  in  the  local  history  of  that  section  of 
the  State  than  any  one  of  his  time. 

Now,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  also  appear  the 
revolutionary  soldiers  of  that  region,  27  in  number, 
with  the  white  satin  badge  of  '75,  and  two  regiments, 
one  of  cavalry  the  other  of  infantry,  from  Mecklen- 
burg and  Cabarrus  counties,  they  constituting  the  old 
Mecklenburg  of  1775. 

Again  in  1857  was  another  grand  celebration  of 
the  day,  when  Rev.  Dr.  F.  L.  Hawks,  then  residing 
in  New  York,  but  retaining  an  affection  for  his  native 
State  which  never  flagged  in  defending  her  fame,  in- 
terest, and  honor,  delivered  an  oration  in  which  he 
elaborately  considered  the  evidence  of  the  truth  of 
this  act  of  patriotism  of  the  people  of  Mecklenburg, 
and  boldly  combated  the  objections  which  had  been 
urged  against  it.  Gov.  Swain,  at  this  time  President 
of  the  University,  accompanied  Dr.  Hawks  to  this 
celebration,  and  at  the  festival  of  the  day  made  an 
address  which  was  not  understood  to  imply  any  doubt 
of  the  positions  assumed  by  him. 

This  oration  was  only  a  week  or  two  later  delivered 
by  Dr.  Hawks  on  the  day  preceding  Commencement 


10  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

at  the  University  of  the  State,  to  a  large  audience,  of 
which  I  was  one.  The  public  press  was  then  as  free 
from  objectors  as  it  is  now  ;  all  was  known  then  touch- 
ing the  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Declara- 
tion that  is  known  now.  But  I  am  not  aware  that 
then  any  one  took  up  the  gauntlet  that  he  boldly 
threw  down. 

The  point,  however,  to  which  I  am  now  directing 
attention,  is,  that  the  men  of  Mecklenburg,  who  had 
reached  the  age  of  discretion  in  1775,  and  survived 
till  1820  and  beyond  it,  satisfied  her  entire  people  of 
the  truth  of  the  Declaration  which  they  averred  to 
have  been  made,  and  induced  them  proudly  to  unite 
in  its  observance  as  a  national  holiday.  In  effecting 
this  result,  they  were  doubtless  fortified  and  assisted 
by  a  tradition,  which  had  made  it  as  much  a  part  of 
the  history  of  Mecklenburg  as  any  other  public  event. 

IV.  More  than  this,  they  convinced  those  best  in- 
formed in  our  history,  the  most  sagacious  and  intelli- 
gent of  the  public  men  of  the  day,  men  as  little  capa- 
ble of  being  deceived  by  what  was  spurious  or  false, 
as  any  who  have  succeeded  them,  of  the  same  thing. 
In  illustration  of  this,  it  may  be  brought  back  to  re- 
collection that  the  late  John  Stanly,  occupying  a 
place  certainly  among  the  first  of  the'  statesmen,  law- 
yers, and  men  of  letters  that  the  State  has  reared,  in 
an  elaborate  and  instructive  funeral  oration  on  the 
life  and  character  of  John  Adams,  at  JNewbern,  a 
short  time  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Adams  in  1826, 
contained  in  a  pamphlet  which  may  yet  be  found 
among  those  who  are  careful  to  preserve  the  memo- 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  11 

rials  of  literature,  takes  an  extended  notice  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  by  the  people  of  Meck- 
lenburg on  the  20th  May,  1775. 

Judge  R.  M.  Saunders,  of  Raleigh,  as  President  of 
a  Convention  of  Internal  Improvements  which  assem- 
bled in  that  city  in  November,  1838,  in  a  memorial 
which  this  Convention  presented  to  the  Legislature, 
referred  to  it  likewise  in  terms  of  the  highest 


'6' 


eulogy. 

At  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1842,  a 
memorial  of  a  number  of  citizens  who  had  united  to- 
gether under  the  name  of  the  Mecklenburg  Monument 
Association,  was  presented  to  that  body,  praying  an 
act  of  incorporation  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
monument  in  commemoration  of  this  great  event.  It 
was  signed  by  a  committee  in  their  behalf  consisting 
of  Frederick  Nash,  Win.  J.  Alexander,  D.  F.  Cal'd- 
well,  James  W.  Osborne,  H.  C.  Jones,  Paul  Barringer, 
John  Phifer,  John  H.  Wheeler,  Isaac  T.  Avery, 
Michael  Iloke,  Charles  Fisher,  Joseph  McDowell 
Carson,  Robert  Strange.  James  Iredell,  D.  L.  Swain, 
Win.  H.  Haywood,  Jr.,  Burton  Craige;  and  the  act 
of  incorporation  was  readily  granted. 

V.  But  it  was  not  merely  our  citizens,  including 
those  of  the  highest  eminence  in  intelligence,  culture 
and  patriotism  throughout  the  State,  who  were 
charmed  into  the  belief  of  the  truthfulness  of  this  oc- 
currence ;  the  State  itself  took  up  the  fame  of  her 
heroic  people  of  Mecklenburg,  as  a  flower  not  un- 
worthy to  be  worn  in  the  garland  which  decked  her 
own  brow.  At  the  session  of  1830-'31,  with  a  view 


12  ADDEESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

to  perpetuate  some  evidence  of  the  transaction,  certain 
certificates,  in  the  nature  of  depositions  of  witnesses 
then  living,  who  had  personal  knowledge  of  it,  were 
procured  and  laid  before  the  General  Assembly — 
witnesses  whose  characters  were  all  known  through 
their  representatives,  and  who  could  readily  have  been 
subjected  to  cross-examination.  These  were  referred 
to  a  Committee  composed  of  Thomas  G.  Polk,  John 
Bragg,  Evan  Alexander,  Louis  D.  Henry,  Alexander 
McNeill.  This  committee  made  a  report  affirming 
the  evidence  to  be  satisfactory,  and  directing  the 
Governor  to  cause  to  be  published  in  pamphlet  the  said 
report,  with  an  introductory  narrative  to  be  prepared 
by  himself,  together  with  the  Mecklenburg  Declara- 
tion, the  names  of  the  delegates  composing  the  meeting, 
and  the  certificates  of  the  witnesses  testifying  to  the 
circumstances  attending  said  Declaration ;  *  also,  the 
proceedings  of  the  Cumberland  Association  ;  and  that 
in  a  separate  pamphlet  there  should  be  reprinted  the 
Journal  of  the  Provincial  Congress  held  at  Halifax 
on  the  3d  of  April,  1776,  in  which  the  delegates  in 
the  Continental  Congress  from  North  Carolina  were 
instructed  to  unite  in  voting  for  absolute  indepen- 
dence," an  instruction  given  in  advance  of  all  the 
other  colonies.  These  resolutions  further  directed 
that  copies  should  be  deposited  in  the  Libraries  of 
the  State  and  the  University,  and  in  that  of  Congress, 
and  transmitted  to  the  Executives  of  the  several 
States  of  the  Union.  It  is  fortunate  for  the  cause  of 
truth  in  relation  to  this  matter,  that  the  then  Gov- 

*  See  Davie  Copy,  A,  page  105. 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  13 

ernor  of  the  State  was  Montfort  Stokes,  an  officer  in 
the  war  of  .the  Revolution,  who  afterwards  held 
many  public  trusts,  including  that  of  Senator  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  Governor  of  the  State,  and 
who  in  the  preface  to  the  pamphlet  published  gives 
strong  corroborative  evidence  in  support  of  the  other 
witnesses,  in  the  statement  of  the  fact,  that  in  1793 
Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  ex- 
hibited to  him  a  copy  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  in  the  hand-writing  of  John 
McKnitt  Alexander. 

In  1836,  on  the  occasion  of  revising  the  statutes  of 
the  State  and  printing  them  for  distribution,  the 
Legislature  enacted,  by  a  law  drawn  by  the  late  Gov- 
erner  Iredell,  Chairman  of  the  Commission  of  Re- 
visal,  that  a  copy  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of 
Independence,  with  the  names  of  the  delegates,  should 
be  prefixed  to  that  work. 

In  18-46,  by  a  joint  resolution,  the  two  Houses  au- 
thorized a  new  edition  of  the  pamphlet  of  1830-31, 
concerning  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  to  be  pub- 
lished with  certain  other  documents  pertaining  to  our 
Revolutionary  history. 

In  1854,  upon  a  new  revision  of  the  statutes,  they 
again,  by  solemn  act,  directed  that  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration  of  Independence  be  prefixed  to  that 
work. 

Let  it  be  noted,  that  all  of  the  three  acts  of  the 
Legislature  last  mentioned,  were  after  the  discoveries 
of  Peter  Force  and  Jared  Sparks  of  the  resolutions 
of  the  Mecklenburg  Committee  of  the  31st  of  May, 


14:  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

1775,  and  the  dispatches  and  proclamation  of  Gov. 
Martin,  in  June  and  July  of  that  year. 

Thus  has  North  Carolina  stamped  with  the  seal  of 
her  approbation  as  history,  our  account  of  this  trans- 
action, as  it  had  long  been  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of 
her  people,  not  only  in  Mecklenburg,  but  in  the  whole 
State,  and  incorporated  with  their  affection  for  the 
liberty  and  glory  of  their  native  land. 

What  has  been  the  testimony  borne  of  it,  by  writers 
of  history  ?  And  first,  by  those  of  North  Carolina. 

1.  Francis  Xavier  Martin,  a  native  Frenchman,  but 
long  a  citizen  of  North  Carolina,  a  compiler  of  one 
edition  of  her  statutes  by  order  of    the  Legislature, 
before   removing   to   Louisiana,    where  he  was   for 
many  years  an  eminent  Judge,  in  the  second  volume 
of  his  History  of  the  State,  published  in  1829,  near 
the  close  of  the   work  (it  was  continued  no  further 
than  1 776),  gives  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  with 
the  accompanying  circumstances  in  full.  * 

2.  Joseph  Sea  well  Jones,  in  1834,  published  his 
volume,  a  Defense  of  North  Carolina,  upon  this  very 
question,  which  may  now  be  referred  to  with  advan- 
tage, especially  as  depicting  that  condition  of   dis- 
satisfaction and  quarrel  between  North  Carolina  and 

'the  mother  country,  from  which  a  severance  of  em- 
pire might  have  been  expected. 

3.  The  Eev.  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Foote,  of  Virginia,  in  his 
interesting  u  Sketches  of   North  Carolina,"  put  forth 
in  1844,  also  gives  full  particulars  of  this  great  event, 

*  See  Martin's  Copy,  B,  page  106. 


ADDBESS   OF   WM.   A.   GRAHAM.  15 

with  as  approving  an  admiration  as  if  he  had  been  a 
native  of  the  State. 

4.  Col.  J.  H.  Wheeler,  in  his  "Sketches  of  the  His- 
tory of  North  Carolina,"  in  1851,  who  had  resided  in 
Mecklenburg  or  on  its  frontier  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  while  compiling  this  useful  work,  gives  to  this 
heroic  act  of  her  provincial  inhabitants  his  cordial 
approbation  ;    and  I  am  happy  to  observe  that,  upon 
the  recent  attempt  to  discredit  it,  he  has  reiterated  his 
decided  convictions. 

5.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks,  to  whom  every  citizen  of 
the  State  should  feel  indebted  for  the  zeal  and  in- 
telligence of  his  interest  in  behalf  of  the  fame  and 
honor  of  his  native  land,  in  a  Lecture  before  the  New 
York  Historical  Society  in  1852,  and  in  a  still  more 
elaborate  performance  of  the  same  nature  at  Char- 
lotte, and  at  the   University  of  the  State,  in  1857, 
maintained  it  to  the  satisfaction  of  our  most  ardent 
patriots. 

6.  It    was   recognized   in  Pitkin's  "Political   and 
Civil  History  of  the  United  States." 

7.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Augustine  T.  Smythe,  a  distin- 
guished Presbyterian  Divine  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  in 
a  pamphlet  issued  in  1847,  to  which  I  shall  have  oc- 
casion again  to  refer,  does  not  discuss  the  evidence  of 
its  authenticity,  but  affirming  that  this  is  clearly  es- 
tablished, writes  an  interesting  dissertation  to  prove 
that  both  the  Mecklenburg  and  the  National  Declara- 
tions, in  the  particulars  in  which  they  resemble  each 
other,    were  suggested  or  taken  from    "A  General 
Confession  or  General  Bond  for  the  Maintainance  of 


16  ADDEESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

True  Religion  and  the  King's  Person  and  Estate,"  put 
forth  to  be  signed  by  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Scotland,  more  than  a  century  before 
American  Independence  was  resolved  on. 

8.  Lossing,  in  his  "  Lives  of  the  Signers  of  the 
National  Declaration  of  Independence,"  in  a  note  to 
that  of  Win.  Hooper,  records  that  as  early  as  the 
twentieth  of  May,  1775,  at  a  meeting  in  Charlotte, 
the  committee  made  a  Declaration  of  Independence 
of  the  British  crown,  to  the  support  of  which  they 
pledged  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred 
honor.  On  this  subject  he  refers  also  to  his  work, 
"  1776,  or  the  War  of  Independence." 

But  it  is  said  this  Declaration  is  denied,  or  is  not 
supported,  by  the  History  of  Mr.  Bancroft.  His 
theory,  from  page  371,  etc.,  of  the  7th  volume, 
seems  to  be,  that  the  result  of  the  deliberations  of  the 
committee  is  found  in  the  resolutions  adopted  on  the 
31st  of  May,  and  discovered  by  Mr.  Force  in  the  Colo- 
nial Office,  in  England,  which  he  interprets  to  mean 
Independence.  "  Thus,"  says  he,  "  was  Mecklenburg 
county  in  North  Carolina  separated  from  the  British 
Empire,''  etc.  We  are  thankful  for  the  admission 
that  Independence  was  effected  by  the  men  of  Meck- 
lenburg on  any  day  in  May,  1775,  or  by  any  form  of 
resolutions.  The  critics  who  quote  Bancroft  with  so 
much  confidence,  contradict  him  by  maintaining  that 
the  resolutions  of  the  31st  of  May  do  not  amount  to 
Independence,  separation  from  the  British  Empire,  as 
he  expresses  it.  These  resolutions,  as  copied  by 
Wheeler,  page  255,  begin  thus :  "  Charlotte  town, 


ADDKESS    OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  17 

Mecklenburg  county.  May  31st,  1775. — This  day 
the  Committee  of  this  county  met  and  passed  the 
following  resolves.  Whereas,  etc.  (See  C,  page 
108.)  Signed,  Eph.  Brevard,  Clerk  of  the  Commit- 
tee." 

This  is  the  whole  proceeding — the  name  of  no  mem- 
ber of  the  Committee  is  given  unless  it  be  implied 
from  the  last  resolution  :  "  That  the  committee  ap- 
point Col.  Thomas  Folk  and  Dr.  Jos.  Kennedy  to 
purchase  powder,  lead,  and  flints,"  shall  -imply,  that 
these  two  were  members,  and  that  Brevard,  being  clerk 
was  also  a  member.  How  was  this  committee  ap- 
pointed and  brought  together,  and  when  ?  who  com- 
posed it  ?  who  was  its  Chairman  ?  or  President  ?  The 
simple  resolutions  as  found  published,  give  us  no  light 
on  these  points.  Yet  Mr.  Bancroft  had  light.  He 
satisfies  curiosity  in  respect  to  them  ;  but  how  did  he 
get  the  material  for  it  in  these  proceedings  of  the  31st 
of  May  ?  He  says,  "  The  People  of  the  county  of 
Mecklenburg  had  carefully  observed  the  progress  of 
the  controversy  with  Britain  ;  and  during  the  winter 
(1774-5),  political  meetings  had  repeatedly  been  held 
in  Charlotte.  That  town  had  been  chosen  for  the 
seat  of  the  Presbyterian  College  which  the  Legislature 
of  North  Carolina  had  chartered,  but  which  the  King 
had  disallowed ;  and  it  was  the  centre  of  the  culture 
of  that  part  of  the  province.  Some  time  in  May, 
news  was  received  that  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  by 
an  address  to  the  King,  had  declared  the  American 
colonies  to  be  in  a  state  of  actual  rebellion.  This  was 
to  them  evidence  that  the  crisis  in  American  affairs 


18  ADDEESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

was  corae,  and  the  people  proposed  among  themselves 
to  abrogate  all  dependence  on  the  royal  authority." 
Mark  what  follows  :  "  But  the  militia  companies  were 
sworn  to  allegiance;  and  how,  it  was  objected,  can 
we  be  absolved  from  our  oath."  The  oath,  it  was  an- 
swered, "  binds  only  while  the  King  protects  " — the 
quotation  marks  are  correctly  copied.  And  how,  we 
respectfully  inquire,  did  Mr.  Bancroft  get  the  report 
of  this  discussion,  except  from  the  evidence  of  Gen- 
eral J.  Graham,  in  support  of  the  theory  of  the  20th 
of  May,  in  which  the  question  put  in  argument,  "  if 
you  resolve  on  independence  how  shall  we  be  absolved 
from  the  oath  we  took  to  be  true  to  King  George 
about  four  years  ago,  after  the  Regulation,  when  we 
were  sworn  whole  militia  companies  together,"  was 
answered  by  the  reply  that  "  when  protection  was 
withdrawn  the  oath  no  longer  bound :  and  was  illus- 
trated by  the  case  of  leaves  falling  from  a  tree." 

Again  we  quote  Mr.  Bancroft :  "  At  the  instance  of 
Thomas  Polk,  the  commander  of  the  militia  of  the 
county,  two  delegates  from  each  company  were  called 
together  at  Charlotte  as  a  representative  committee. 
Before  these  consultations  had  ended,  the  message  of 
the  innocent  blood  shed  at  Lexington  came  up  from 
Charleston  and  inflamed  their  zeal." — Ao;ain  we  ask 

O 

how  was  Mr.  Bancroft  informed  that  Thomas  Polk 
was  commander  of  the  militia  of  the  county,  that  he 
called  for  the  appointment  of  two  delegates  from  each 
company,  that  while  their  deliberations  were  going  on 
the  message  arrived  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  ex- 
cept from  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hunter, 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  19 

Major  Davidson,  Captain  Jack,  and  other  witnesses, 
as  to  the  meeting  on  the  20th  ?  Further  lie  says,  with 
a  justice  in  which  all  concur,  that  "  of  the  delegates  to 
that  memorable  assembly,  the  name  of  Eplirahn  Bre- 
vard  should  be  remembered  with  honor  by  his  coun- 
trymen ;  he  was  one  of  a  numerous  family  of  broth- 
ers, and  himself  in  the  end  fell  a  martyr  to  the  public 
cause.  Trained  in  the  College  at  Princeton,  ripened 
among  the  brave  Presbyterians  of  middle  Carolina,  he 
digested  the  system  which  was  then  adopted  and  which 
formed  in  effect  a  declaration  of  independence,  as 
well  as  a  complete  system  of  government."  The  Res- 
olutions to  which  the  name  of  Brevard  was  signed  as 
clerk  of  the  committee,  give  no  information  as  to  his 
education,  ripening,  authorship  of  the  resolutions,  and 
of  course  none  as  to  his  melancholy  death  in  his  coun- 
try's cause;  and  the  question*  remains,  from  whom 
did  Mr.  Bancroft  derive  this  information,  especially 
as  to  the  authorship  of  the  resolutions  of  the  31st  of 
May,  except  from  the  witnesses,  several  of  them  Bre- 
vard's  connections  and  all  his  acquaintances,  who  do 
not  speak  of  this  authorship,  though  it  is  no  doubt  a 
true  inference,  but  who  all  concur  in  ascribing  to  his 
pen  the  resolutions  of  the  20th  of  May — and  it  is  a 
jnst  inference  that  he  wrote  those  of  the  31st,  only 
from  the  proof  we  have  from  these  witnesses  that  he 
wrote  those  of  the  20th.  The  clerkship  of  a  com- 
mittee does  not  imply  authorship  of  its  resolutions. 
The  documentary  evidence  is  dumb  in  all  these  mat- 

*  See  0. — Resolutions  on  3tst  May,  page  108. 


20  ADDKESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

ters ;  the  verbal  testimony  of  those  who  speak  to  the 
resolutions  of  the  20th  is  adopted  by  Mr.  Bancroft  iu 
all  things,  except  as  to  the  day  and  the  form  of  the 
resolutions" of  the  20th;  and  without  the  approval  of 
these  witnesses  he  transfers  their  evidence  to  the 
31st,  in  regard  to  which  there  is  no  evidence  except 
the  naked  resolutions  themselves  bearing  the  latter 
date — the  witnesses  who  do  testify,  all  contending 
that  the  most  memorable  meeting  was  on  the  20th, 
and  that  Independence  was  resolved  on  then.  And 
I  may  add.  that  such,  I  know,  is  the  tradition  in  the 
family  of  the  Brevards  to  wThich  he  belonged,  and 
that. of  the  Polks  in  which  he  married. 

The  question  is  on  the  bold  brave  act  of  resolving 
on  Independence.  Let  it  be  observed  that  Mr.  Ban- 
croft fully  admits  that /  and  the  month;  and  is  only 
at  issue  with  us  as  to  the  day  and  form.  He  is  there- 
fore no  authority  with  the  critics  who  deny  any  asser- 
tion of  Independence,  but  is  against  them. 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Bancroft,  who,  when  rightly  un- 
derstood, affords  but  slender  support  to  them,  our 
opponents  present  the  name  of  Peter  Force  as  sustain- 
ing their  views.  Mr.  Force  was  a  worthy  gentleman 
of  the  city  of  Washington,  and  an  editor  of  a  political 
paper  in  that  city  about  1828  ;  but  I  am  not  aware 
that  he  left  any  written  work  on  this  or  any  other 
subject  of  American  history.  He  and  Matthew  St. 
Clair  Clark,  in  1833,  I  think,  entered  into  a  contract 
with  the  Government  to  publish  the  American 
Archives,  or  documentary  History  of  the  United 
States.  In  the  search  for  documents  to  publish  in 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  21 

fulfillment  of  this  contract,  he,  Mr.  Force,  found  a 
newspaper  containing  the  Mecklenburg  resolutions 
already  referred  to,  of  the  date  31st  May,  1775.  I 
presume  he  never  did  find  a  copy  of  those  alleged  to 
have  been  adopted  on  the  20th  of  May  in  that  year. 
If  he  had  any  reasons  for  doubting  the  genuineness 
of  the  latter,  except  that  he  did  not  discover  a  copy 
in  the  course  of  his  researches,  they  have  never  been 
given  to  the  public.  He  may  have  expressed  the 
opinion  attributed,  but  the  loose  conversations  of 
any  one  on  such  a  subject  are  entitled  to  little 
weight,  and  there  is  no  little  evidence  bearing 
upon  it,  which,  I  feel  confident,  never  eame^^fco^his 
knowledge. 

To  discredit  the  oral  evidence  of  living  witnesses, 
or  even  the  traditions  of  a  people,  and  respect  nothing 
but  printed  documentary  proof  m  a  country  and  at  a 
time  when  no  printing  press  existed  within  hundreds 
of  miles — when  but  two  papers  were  printed  in  the 
State,  and  no  copy  of  a  single  number  of  either  is 
known  to  be  preserved,  is  to  reduce  history  merely 
contemporary  annals. 

9.  But  there  are  other  American  historians  to 
whom  attention  should  be  directed  by  those  who  de- 
sign to  deal  with  this  topic  in  candor.  Hildreth,  a 
very  painstaking,  accurate,  and  instructive  writer,  to 
whom  I  shall  recur  at  another  stage,  in  his  third  vol- 
ume, published  in  1854,  asserts  "  that  the  citizens  of 
Mecklenburg  county  (North  Carolina)  carried  their 
zeal  so  far  as  to  resolve  at  a  public  meeting  to  throw 
off  the  British  connection,  and  they  framed  a  formal 


22  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM 

Declaration  of  Independence.      But  this  feeling  was 
by  no  means  general." 

10.  But  what  says  our  great  and  beloved  author, 
the  first  of  Americans  who  gave  to  his  country  a 
character  for  literature  in  Europe ;  and  appropriately 
closed  his  long  and  bright  career  by  a  Biography  of 
Washington,  published  in  1857  ?  I  speak  of  Wash- 
ington Irving,  all  of  whose  works  are  American 
classics.  In  the  fourth  volume  of  this  work,  speak- 
ing of  the  invasion  of  North  Carolina,  which  had 
been  assigned  to  Lord  Cornwallis,  he  says  :  "  It  was 
"an  enterprise  in  which  much  difficulty  was  to  be  ap- 
prehended, both  from  the  character  of  the  people  arid 
the  country.  The  original  settlers  were  from  various 
parts,  most  of  them  men  who  had  experienced  polit- 
ical or  religious  oppression,  and  brought  with  them  a 
quick  sensibility  to  wrong,  a  stern  appreciation  of 
their  rights,  and  an  indomitable  spirit  of  freedom  and 
independence.  In  this  part  of  the  State  was  a  hardy 
Presbyterian  stock,  the  Scotch-Irish,  as  they  were 
called,  having  emigrated  from  Scotland  to  Ireland 
and  thence  to  America,  and  were  said  to  possess  the 
impulsiveness  of  the  Irishman  with  the  dogged  reso- 
lution of  the  Covenanter.  The  early  history  of  the 
colony  abounds  with  instances  of  this  spirit  among 
its  people.  '  They  always  behaved  insolently  to  their 
Governors/  complains  Governor  Burrington  in  1731, 
'  some,  they  have  driven  out  of  the  country — at  other 
times  they  set  up  a  government  of  their  own  choice, 
supported  by  men  under  arms.'  It  was  in  fact  the 
spirit  of  popular  liberty  and  self-government  which 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  23 

stirred  within  them,  and  gave  birth  to  the  glorious 
axiom  :  the  rights  of  the  many  against  the  exactions  of 
the  few.  *  *  *  *  It  was  this  spirit  that  gave  rise 
to  the  Confederacy  called  the  Regulation,  formed  to 
withstood  the  abuses  of  power ;  and  the  first  blood 
shed  in  our  country  in  resistance  to  arbitrary  taxation 
was  at  Alamance  in  this  province,  in  a  conflict  be- 
tween the  Regulators  and  Governor  Tryon.  Above 
all  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  at  Mecklenburg, 
in  the  heart  of  North  Carolina,  was  fulminated  the 
first  Declaration  of  Independence  of  the  British  crown 
upwards  of  a  year  before  a  like  declaration  by  Con- 
gress." 

Again  :  "  Cornwallis  decamped  from  Camden  and 
set  out  for  North  Carolina.  *  *  *  *  Advanc- 
ing into  the  latter  province  Cornwallis  took  post  at 
Charlotte,  where  he  had  given  rendezvous  to  Fergu- 
son. 

'•  Mecklenburg,  of  which  it  was  the  capital,  was,  the 
reader  may  recollect,  the  '  heady  high-minded '  coun- 
ty where  the  first  Declaration  of  Independence  had 
been  made  ;  and  his  Lordship,  from  uncomfortable 
experience,  soon  pronounced  Charlotte  '  the  hornet's 
nest  of  North  Carolina.'  *  *  *  * 

"  Instead  of  remaining  at  home  and  receiving  the 
King's  money  in  exchange  for  their  produce,  the}7 
(the  inhabitants)  turned  out  with  their  rifles,  stationed 
themselves  in  covert  places,  fired  upon  the  foraging 
parties ;  convoys  of  provisions  from  Camden  had  to 
fight  their  way,  and  expresses  were  shot  down  and 
their  despatches  seized." 


24  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

11.  In  the  recent  School  History  of  the  United 
States  by  the  Hon.  A.  II.  Stephens,  of  Georgia  (a 
valuable  acquisition  to  our  school  literature),  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  at  Mecklenburg,  on  the 
20th  of  May,  1775,.  is  distinctly  acknowledged,  and 
full  justice  is  done  to  the  early  and  manly  action  of 
the  State  in  the  cause  of  Independence  at  this  critical 
period. 

To  these  authorities  I  here  annex  the  testimonial 
of  the  late  President  Jackson.  My  two  friends,  the 
Hon.  Theodore  W.  Brevard  and  his  nephew  Col. 
Isaac  W.  Elayne,  the  former  Comptroller-General  of 
Florida,  and  the  latter  Attorney-General  of  South 
Carolina,  until  displaced  from  these  offices  by  the  re- 
sults of  the  recent  war,  the  former  residing  now  at 
Cleaveland  Springs,  and  the  latter  still  pursuing  his 
profession  in  the  City  of  Charleston,  in  the  year  1828, 
when  both  very  young  men,  making  together  a  tour 
of  pleasure  and  observation  in  Kentucky  and  Tennes- 
see, visited  the  Hermicage.  What  they  then  saw 
and  heard  from  its  distinguished  proprietor  touching 
the  event  in  question,  I  will  relate  in  the  words  of 
a  recent  letter  from  Col.  Hayne.  "I  bore  a  letter  of 
introduction  from  Col.  A.  P.  Hayne,  a  personal 
friend  and  formerly  of  the  military  staff  of  Gen. 
Jackson.  *  *  *  *  The  General  received  us 
with  even  more  than  his  usual  warmth  and  cordiality. 
After  some  inquiries  as  to  my  relations  (the  Haynes) 
he  asked  my  uncle  of  what  family  of  Brevards  he 
was;  and  learning  that  of  Capt.  Alexander  Brevard,  of 
Lincoln  County,  North  Carolina,  he  said  he  Had  heard 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  25 

of  that  family  all  his  life,  and  that  some  of  them 
were  then,  and  had  been  for  many  years,  residents  of 
Tennessee.  He  then  remarked  to  Mr.  Brevard, 
*  You  know  I  lived  in  Mecklenburg,  the  adjoining 
county  to  Lincoln,  in  my  youth,  and  1  have  always 
taken  a  special  interest  in  that  region  and  its  early 
history.  I  have,'  he  said,  '  in  the  opposite  room  a 
copy  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, framed  and  hung  up,  and  I  think  it  well  wor- 
thy of  the  position.'  He  then  asked  us  into  the  next 
room  and  pointed  out  a  copy  of  the  Declaration,  with 
the  signatures  attached,  printed  on  satin  and  in  a  gilt 
frame.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  he  stated 
that  the  authorship  was  always  attributed  to  Dr. 
Ephraim  Brevard.  I  have  no  recollection  that  any 
allusion  was  made  to  any  doubt  ever  having  been  ex- 
pressed as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  document.  Gen. 
Jackson  unquestionably  treated  the  incident  as  a  well- 
known  fact  in  the  history  of  that  region  of  country, 
the  memory  of  which  he  desired  to  perpetuate." 

Let  it  be  noted,  that  at  the  time  of  this  conversa- 
tion, the  Legislature  of  N"orth  Carolina  had  never  no- 
ticed the  matter  of  the  Declaration,  and  no  publica- 
tions had  been  made  touching  it,  except  the  original 
<••  iimnunication  by  Joseph  McKnitt  Alexander,  in 

1819,  and  the   evidence   collected  by  Col.   Polk,  in 

1820,  and  two  or  three  letters  collected  by  Mr.  Macon, 
as  will  be  hereafter  shown  ;  neither  had  Martin's  His- 
tory appeared  :  it  came  out  in  1  829. 

Let  it  also  be  borne  in  mind,  f1ijlti  (TPJI  J 


a  native  of  Mecklenburg,  had  received  his  education 


26  ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

in    Charlotte,    and  did   not   emigrate    till  probably 
twenty-one  years   of  age ;  and   the   inference  fairly 
follows,  that  the  tribute  of  honor  he  was  paying  to 
this  act  of  patriotism  in  his  native  land,  was  induced, 
not  by  the  testimony  which  had  at  that  time  been  ta- 
ken in  support  of  its  authenticity,  but  from  his  own 
knowledge  of  the  reputation  of  the  transaction  before 
he  removed  to  Tennessee.      He   was  too   young,  of 
course,  to  have  been  present  at  its  occurrence,  but  that 
he  had  heard  of  it  as  one  of  the  many  incidents  of  the 
Revolution  in  Mecklenburg,  is  in  the  highest  degree 
probable.      He,  therefore,  referred  to  it  as  he  would 
have  done  to  a  diagram  of  the  battlefield  of  King's 
Mountain,  had  he  possessed  one,  and  spoke  of  it  in  a 
like  tone  of  confidence  in  its  reality.      How  long  this 
copy  had   been  displayed  in   his  mansion  we  are  not 
informed.      Conceding  that  the  form  of   the    docu- 
ment may  have  been  derived  from  the  publications 
eight  or  nine  years  preceding,  it  was  only  a  memen- 
to of  what,  no  doubt,  he  had  long  been  familiar  with 
as  a  fact  of  history  from  the  repute  and  concurrence 
of  the  community  in  which  he  was  brought  up.     Con- 
sidering how  many  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
Revolution,  after  its  close,  removed  from   Mecklen- 
burg and  its  neighboring  counties  to  Tennessee,  arid 
that  a  goodly  number  of  these  were  surviving  in  1828, 
there  is  little  question  that  evidence  of  a  similar  na- 
ture to  this  in  regard  to  the  declaration  at  Charlotte, 
might  have  been  at  that  time  abundantly  obtained  in 
that  State. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  in    the  Legislative   pam- 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  27 

phlet,  the  testimony  of  a  Mr.  Montgomery  in  Tennes- 
see had  been  taken  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  fact  by 
reputation,  but  was  not  published  by  the  committee, 
because  they  confined  the  proof  to  that  of  witnesses 
personally  present  at  the  meeting  in  which  the  declara- 
tion was  promulged ;  though  it  was  a  subject  in 
which  hearsay  at  an  early  period  was  certainly  legiti- 
mate. 

Again :  about  the  time  that  Gen.  Jackson  left 
Mecklenburg  for  the  West,  Dr.  Charles  Caldwell, 
another  of  her  sons,  took  his  departure  for  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  attained  the  highest  distinction  in  the 
profession  of  medicine,  becoming  an  author  in  the 
science,  and  a  lecturer  in  the  medical  schools  of  that 
city,  and  subsequently  in  those  at  Lexington  and 
Louisville,  Ky.  In  the  year  1819,  while  still  in  Phil- 
adelphia, Dr.  Caldwell  published  a  volume  entitled 
"  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Campaigns  of  General 
Greene,  Commander  of  the  Southern  Department  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution  ; "  with  an  appendix  con- 
taining in  full  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
Mecklenburg,  on  the  20th  May,  1775:  remarking  that, 
"  On  the  authenticity  of  the  document  perfect  reliance 
may  be  placed  ; "  and  adding  that,  with  the  chairman 
and  Secretary  of  the  meeting,  as  well  as  with  Col. 
Thomas  Polk,  the  writer  was  well  acquainted,  and 
knew  them  to  have  been  capable  of  all  that  was  vir- 
tuous, patriotic,  and  daring." 

Whether  this  book  appeared  before  or  after  the  30th 
April,  1819,  when  the  first  publication  of  this  pro- 
ceeding was  made  in  the  Raleigh  Register,  I  am  not 


28  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

informed.  The  author  evidently  intends  to  give  the 
truth  of  the  transaction  the  impress  of  his  personal 
testimony,  no  doubt  from  the  reputation  prevailing 
before  he  emigrated  from  Mecklenburg,  and  at  a  time 
when,  if  the  Alexander  article  had  appeared  in  the 
public  prints,  not  a  scintilla  of  evidence  had  been, 
taken  in  its  support. 

After  the  repeated  and  decisive  action  of  the  State 
in  this  matter,  and  the  concurrent  recognition  of  the 
claim  of  a  portion  of  her  people  to  the  renown  which 
attaches  to  it,  not  merely  within  her  own  limits  but 
by  the  great  authorities  of  American  History,  it  natu- 
rally occasions  surprise  to  have  seen  deliberate  and 
labored  attempts  to  write  it  down  in  the  estimation 
of  the  present  generation,  and  to  convince  them  that 
the  pretension  set  up  by  their  ancestors  to  an  honor- 
able fame  was  a  myth  and  a  delusion — that,  true,  the 
act  was  testified  to  by  certain  "  respectable  old  gentle- 
men in  a  frontier  county,"  but  they  had  reached  the  age 
of  sixty  or  seventy  years,  (the  average  age  at  which  our 
Presidents  have  gone  into  office),  and  their  testimony 
is  not  to  be  credited  ;  and  that  the  acquiescence  of  the 
State  and  her  people,  for  more  than  a  half  century,  in 
yielding    it   their    belief,    was   all    deception.     This 
assault  comes  upon  us  not  only  after  a  great  lapse  of 
time  from  the  event  itself,  and  from  the  collection  of 
the  evidence  in  support  of  its  verity,  but  at  the  con- 
clusion of  a  great  war,  when  those  who  have  shared 
the  fortunes  of  the  State  have  had  their  thoughts  too 
much  distracted  by  the  events  and  necessities  of  re- 
cent history  to  give  much  study  to  that  which  is  re- 


ADDRESS    OF   WM.    A.    GPiAHAM.  29 

mote.  It  is,  therefore,  a  question,  how  far  it  becomes 
us,  in  the  present  state  of  the  affair,  to  submit  to  an 
arraignment  and  be  impleaded  in  a  proceeding  set  on 
foot  for  no  purpose,  that  I  can  imagine,  except  to 
amuse  leisure  and  test  our  capacity  to  defend  our  past 
action  on  this  subject  by  antiquarian  research.  It 
takes  us  unawares,  and  requires  time,  labor,  and  con- 
sultation of  authorities,  some  of  them  not  to  be  found, 
in  private  libraries — to  deal  with  it  as  if  it  were  now 
new.  I  may  have  deceived  myself,  but  with  all  the 
disadvantages  surrounding  ns,  I  trust  it  can  be  shown 
that  we  have  nothing  to  lose  by  reopening  the  contro- 
versy ;  that  there  are  several  facts  and  considerations 
connected  with  it  which  have  not  been  heretofore 
presented  to  the  public  view,  and  that,  in  the  end,  the 
star  of  old  Mecklenburg  and  of  North  Carolina  will 
shine  the  brighter,  from  having  come  to  the  ascen- 
dant in  a  deeper  gloom  at  the  time  it  rose  than  she 
herself  was  then  aware. 

Let  us  see  in  what  manner,  and  by  whom,  it  was 
first  brought  to  notice  in  the  public  prints. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1819,  the  paper  purporting 
to  contain  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting 
of  the  committee  of  the  people  of  Mecklenburg,  in 
Charlotte,  on  the  20th  May,  1775,  and  their  resolu- 
tions of  Independence,  appeared  in  the  Raleigh  Regis- 
ter, in  a  communication  from  Dr.  Joseph  McKnitt 
Alexander,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Mecklenburg, 
signed  Joseph  McKnitt,  a  signature  which  he  is  well 
known  to  have  often  used,  omitting  his  surname,  from 
the  commonness  of  the  name  of  Alexander  in  that  re- 


30  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

gion,  and  by  the  same  designation  he  was  frequently 
spoken  of  and  addressed.*  Along  with  it,  as  another 
relic  of  antiquity,  was  sent  by  him  and  published  in 
the  same  paper,  a  copy  of  a  proclamation  of  the  Roy- 
al Governor,  Josiah  Martin,  dated  "  Charlotte  Town, 
October  3d,  17SO,"  while  the  army  of  Lord  Cornwal- 
lis  occupied  that  town.  On  this  latter  I  may,  in  the 
sequel,  make  a  further  remark.  The  first  of  the 
above-mentioned  papers  was,  prefaced  by  an  editorial 
notice,  stating  that  the  fact  it  announced  was  not 
generally  known  to  the  world,  but  that  the  editor  had 
it  from  unquestionable  authority,  and  he  published  it 
that  it  might  go  down  to  posterity.  Being  copied 
into  the  Essex  Register,  of  Massachusetts,  this  paper 
was  sent  by  Mr.  John  Adams  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  with  a 
letter  remarking  that  "  the  common  sentiment  of 
America  at  that  period  was  never  so  well  expressed 
before  or  since."  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  a  reply  dated 
July  9th,  1819,  among  other  observations  said  :  "  I 
believe  it  spurious — I  deem  it  a  very  un justifiable 
quiz,  like  that  of  the  volcano,  so  minutely  related  to 
us  as  having  broken  out  in  North  Carolina  some  half 
dozen  years  ago,  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and,  per- 
haps, in  that  very  county  of  Mecklenburg,  for  I  do 

*  He  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  about  1792,  and  a  well  ed- 
ucated physician.  His  signature,  as  above  stated,  was  so  well 
known,  that  Gov.  Stokes  deemed  no  explanation  of  it  necessary, 
but  speaks  of  him  as  Dr.  Alexander  in  the  publication  of  1831. 

Mr.  Isaac  Alexander,  mentioned  in  these  remarks,  is  character- 
ized as  Clerk  Isaac,  to  distinguish  him  from  others,  there  being 
at  that  time  in  that  region  many  Alexanders  answering  to  all  the 
usual  Christian  names. 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  31 

not  remember  its  precise  locality."  After  expressing 
doubt  as  to  whether  this  paper  had  been  really  taken 
from  the  Raleigh  Register,  saying  that  it  had  not  been 
seen  by  him  in  the  paper  of  Mr.  Ritchie,  or  the  No- 
i'mnitl  Intrll!t/,-ii(>cr,  nor  in  Williamson's  History  of 
Xorth  Carolina,  nor  other  authors  whom  he  names, 
and  that  it  appeals  to  Mr.  Alexander  who  was  dead, 
to  Gas  well,  Ilewes  and  Hooper,  all  dead,  he  proceeds: 
*'  When  Mr.  Henry's  resolution,  far  short  of  indepen- 
dence, flew  like  lightning  through  every  paper,  and 
kindled  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  this  flaming  dec- 
laration of  the  same  date  of  the  independence  of 
Mecklenburg  county  of  Xorth  Carolina,  absolving  it 
from  British  allegiance,  and  abjuring  all  political  con- 
nection with  that  nation,  although  sent  to  Congress, 
was  never  heard  of.  It  is  not  known  even  a  twelve 
month  after  when  a  similar  proposition  was  first  made 
in  that  body.  Armed  with  this  bold  example,  would 
you  not  have  addressed  our  timid  brethren  in  peals  of 
thunder  on  their  tardy  fears  ?  Would  not  every  ad- 
vocate of  independence  have  rung  the  glories  of  Meck- 
lenburg county  in  Xorth  Carolina  in  the  ears  of  the 
doubting  Dickinson  and  others  who  hung  so  heavily 
on  us  ?  Yet  the  example  of  independent  Mecklen- 
burg is  never  once  quoted."  He  proceeds  to  pro- 
nounce Hooper  a  tory,  Hewes  very  wavering,  Casweli 
and  Penn  firm  patriots ;  and  we  quote  again  :  u  I 
must  not  be  understood  as  suggesting  any  doubtful- 
ness of  the  State  of  Xorth  Carolina.  Xo  State  was 
more  fixed  or  forward.  Xor  do  I  aftirm  positively 
that  this  paper  is  a  fabrication  ;  because  the  proof  of 


dZ  ADDEESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

a  negative  is  only  presumptive.  But  I  shall  believe 
it  such  until  positive  and  solemn  proof  of  its  authen- 
ticity shall  be  produced.  And  if  the  name  of  McKnitt 
be  real,  and  not  a  part  of  the  fabrication,  it  needs 
verification  by  the  production  of  such  proof,"  etc. 

With  all  due  respect  for  its  eminent  author,  he  did 
himself  and  others  great  injustice  in  the  composition 
of  this  letter.  It  is  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  conteinptu- 
ousness  and  carelessness  very  unfavorable  to  the  as- 
certainment of  truth  on  the  question  it  discusses. 
He  does  not  remember  the  locality  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  and  will  not  even  turn  to  the  map  to  learn  it. 
He  does  not  recollect  anything  of  its  history  in  1775, 
and  will  take  no  pains  to  investigate  it.  He  does  not 
remember  even  to  have  heard  of  the  Resolutions  of 
the  31st  of  May,  which  Mr.  Bancroft  admits  estab- 
lished independence,  and  which  were  published  at  the 
time  in  at  least  two  newspapers  that  have  been  pre- 
served— nor,  we  must  infer,  of  the  resolutions  of  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  adopted  on  the  12th  of  April, 
1776,  empowering  her  delegates  to  concur  in  declar- 
ing independence  in  advance  of  any  other  colony; 
otherwise  it  is  to  be  presumed  he  would  have  recurred 
to  so  conspicuous  a  fact  in  remarks  on  that  period. 
Had  he  turned  to  Tarleton's  Campaigns  in  America,  he 
would  have  discovered  that  even  in  the  very  crisis  of 
the  War  in  1780 -'81,  after  South  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia had  been  overrun -and  conquered,  that  British  offi- 
cer declares  that  Mecklenburg  and  Rohan  (Rowan)  was 
the  most  rebellious  district  in  America — a  fact  which 
he  had  proved  by  wager  of  battle.  Had  he  consulted 


ADDRESS    OF  WM.    A.   GRAHAM.  33 

Lee's  Memoirs,  or  S  ted  man's  American  "War,  he  would 
have  found  it  the  centre  of  some  of  the  most  Stirling 
military  events  of  that  war — that  within  a  radius  of  40 
miles  of  its  capital  are  situated  the  scenes  of  the  battles 
of  Hanging  Rock,  Buford's  defeat,  Sumter's  defeat, 
Rocky  Mount,  King's  Mountain,  Ramsour's  Mill, 
Cowan's  Ford  : — that  the  town  of  Charlotte  itself  was 
the  theatre  of  a  well-contested  action  between  Davie 
and  Tarleton's  cavalry .;  and  although  Lord  Cornwal- 
lis  occupied  it  for  a  brief  season  afterwards,  he  re- 
treated thence  in  the  night  upon  learning  of  the  de- 
struction of  Ferguson  at  King's  Mountain. 

He  might  further  have  learned,  upon  inquiry,  that 
so  heroic  and  true  had  been  her  inhabitants  in  the 
cause  of  independence,  that  when  General  Greene 
superseded  Gates  in  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  South  at  Charlotte,  in  December,  1780,  with  the 
British  in  his  front  at  Winnsboro',  he  was  able  to  dis- 
patch Morgan  across  the  Catawba  and  Broad  Rivers  to 
the  West,  and  withdraw  his  remaining  force  for  sub- 
sistence to  Cheraw  Hills,  relying  upon  the  militia  of 
Mecklenburg  under  Davidson  as  his  Central  Army,  to 
be  cantoned  writh  their  families  and  called  forth  when- 
ever the  exigencies  of  the  campaign  might  require — 
a  disposition  wholly  un  military,  except  for  the  reliance 
of  that  great  commander  upon  their  fidelity  and 
valor.  And  that  in  1781,  in  addition  to  furnishing 
her  contingent  to  re-establish  the  North  Carolina 
Continental  Line  which  had  all  been  captured  in  the 
surrender  of  Charleston,  this  county,  with  Rowan, 
furnished  the  greater  part  of  three  regiments  of 
2* 


34  ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

South  Carolina  State  Troops  under  Polk,  Hampton 
and  Middleton,  who  fought  under  Smnter  at 
Eutaw.* 

Had  Mr.  Jefferson  inquired  into  the  social  and  civil 
condition  of  the  county  of  Mecklenburg  in  1775,  he 
would  have  learned  that  Charlotte  was  the  "centre  of 
the  culture  of  that  part  of  .the  Province"  (as  Mr. 
Bancroft  has  expressed  it)  ;  that  it  was  the  seat  of  the 
highest  seminary  of  learning  south  of  Princeton  (ex- 
cept the  college  of  William  and  Mary,  in  Virginia), 
in  the  institution  of  Queen's  Museum,  and  thither 
were  sent  young  men  from  Wilmington,  Camden, 
Winnsborough,  Chester,  and  from  the  Academies  of 
Poplar  Tent  and  Bethany  ;  that  this  College  was  pre- 
sided over  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  McWhorter,  an  alumnus 
of  Princeton ;  that  around  it  were  settled  Dr. 
Ephraim  Brevard,  a  graduate  likewise  of  Nassau  Hall ; 
Waightstill  Avery,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  and  William 
Kennon,  lawyers  of  reputation,  the  former  being  af- 
terwards elected  the  first  Attorney-General  of  the 
State,  upon  the  establishment  of  the  republican  Con- 
stitution ;  the  Rev.  Tlezekiah  Balch,  Afjlai  Osborne^ 
and  other  gentlemen  of  no  mean  education ;  that  the 
spirit  of  the  people  was  high ;  that  they  had  been 
provoked  by  the  long  struggle  between  the  Colony 
and  Crown  concerning  the  attachment  of  lands  in  the 
Province  to  satisfy  debts  due  from  owners  residing  in 
England ;  f  by  the  refusal  of  the  King  to  approve 
the  charter  of  their  College,  an  act  which  the  Legis- 

*  Gen'l  J.  Graham's  memoranda.         f  Jones's  Defense. 


ADDKESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  35 

lature  had  granted  and  which  he  had  annulled  by 
royal  proclamation ;  *  by  the  enforced  regulations  of 
an  Established  Church,  which  at  no  distant  day  had 
imposed  impediments  and  delays  in  the  celebration 
of  marriages,  except  by  its  own  clergy;  f  and,  although 
this  county  had  not  participated  in  the  Regulation, 
by  the  exaction  of  a  new  oath  of  allegiance  after  that 
event,  the  population  being  called  out  for  this  pur- 
pose by  military  companies.  ^  To  guide  this  spirit  of 
discontent  and  resistance,  they  had  an  ample  number 
of  educated  and  intelligent  leaders — 

"  Stern,  heroic  spirits,  roughly  brave,  by  aucient  learning 
To  the  enlightened  love  of  ancient  freedom  warmed." 

Had  Mr.  Jefferson  been  advised  of  this  attitude  of 
affairs,  and  of  the  characteristics  of  this  people,  his 
incredulity  in  respect  to  their  action  would  probably 
have  been  abated.  These  are  matters  of  local  history, 
to  be  sure,  but  it  is  a  question  of  local  history  we  are 
considering.  A  knowledge  of  them  is  necessary  to 
show  that  the  tinder  of  revolution  was  ready  in  that 
section  whenever  an  occasion  should  arise  for  the  ap- 
plication of  the  match. 

But  his  letter  of  'denial  demanded  proof  of  the 
declaration  of  independence  alleged  to  have  been 
made.  The  matter  was  then  taken  up  by  Col.  Wil- 
liam Polk  (a  son  of  Col.  Thomas  Polk,  a  leader  in  the 
movement  of  the  20th  of  May,  1775),  who  had  been 
himself  an  officer  of  the  Continental  Line  of  North 

*  Caruthers'  Life  of  Rev.  Dr.  Caldwell. 

f  Ibidem.  J  Gen.  Graham's  Certificate. 


30  ADDEESS    OF    WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

Carolina,  who  had  commenced  his  military  service 
under  his  father  in  the  expedition  against  the  Scovil- 
ite*  Tories  in  upper  South  Carolina  in  the  autumn  of 
1775,  was  under  Nash  at  Germantowri,  Penn.,  in 
1777,  with  Davidson  on  the  Catawba  in  February, 
1781,  and  distinguished  in  the  command  of  a  regi- 
ment of  South  Carolina  State  Troops  at  Eutaw,  in 
September  of  that  year.  He  was  at  this  time  resid- 
ing in  Raleigh  and  President  of  the  principal  Bank  of 
the  State.  He  procured  and  communicated  to  the 
Raleigh  Register,  of  February  18th,  1820,  the  certifi- 
cate of  Gen.  George  Graham,  Wm.  Hutchison,  Jonas 
Clark  and  Robert  Robinson,  all  inhabitants  of  Mecklen- 
burg, his  old  neighbors,  men  of  the  first  character  as 
soldiers  and  citizens,  to  the  effect  that  they  were  each 
present  at  the  meeting  of  the  19th  and  20th  of  May, 
1775,  and  that  on  the  latter  day  "  resolves  were  read 
which  went  to  declare  the  people  of  Mecklenburg 
county  Free  and  Independent  of  the  King  and  Par- 
liament of  Great  Britain,  and  from  that  day  thence- 
forth all  allegiance  and  political  relation  was  dissolved 
between  the  good  people  of  Mecklenburg  and  the 
King  of  Great  Britain  ;  which  declaration  was  signed 
by  every  member  of  the  delegation  amid  the  shouts 
and  huzzas  of  a  very  large  assembly  of  the  people  of 
the  county,  who  had  come  to  know  the  issue  of  the 
meeting.  We  further  believe  (say  they)  that  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  drawn  up  by  Dr. 
Ephraim  Brevard,  and  that  it  was  conceived  and 

*  From  Scovil,  the  name  of  a  British  emissary  among  them. 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.   GRAHAM.  37 

brought  about  through  the  instrumentality  and  pop- 
ularity of  Col.  Thomas  Polk,  Abraham  Alexander, 
John  McKnitt  Alexander,  Adam  Alexander,  Ephraim 
Brevard,  John  Phifer,  Hezekiah  Alexander,  and 
some  others,"  They  further  certified  that  within  a 
few  days  thereafter,  Captain  James  Jack,  of  the  town 
of  Charlotte,  went  as  a  messenger  to  bear  those  re- 
solves to  the  Congress,  etc.  The  signatures  to  this 
certificate  are 

GEO.  GRAHAM,  aged  61,  near  62. 

WM.  HUTCHISON,  "     68. 

JONAS  CLARK,      "     61. 

ROB'T  ROBINSON,    "    68. 

A  letter  from  John  Simmerson.  of  Providence,  in 
Mecklenburg,  addressed  to  Colonel  Polk,  January  20th, 
1820,  follows  this  in  general  confirmation  of  the  facts 
stated  in  the  certificate,  with  the  anecdote  that  on 
mentioning  the  subject  of  the  correspondence  to  an 
old  neighbor,  he  replied,  "  Och,  aye  ;  Tain  Polk  de- 
clared independence  long  before  anybody  else." 

The  testimony  of  Captain  Jack,  of  the  date  of  7th 
December,  1819,  who  was  then  residing  in  Georgia, 
was  also  procured  to  the  same  import  with  the  above, 
and  that  he  had  been  privy  to  a  number  of  meetings 
of  the  most  influential  and  leading  characters  of  the 
county,  prior  to  that  at  which  these  resolutions  were 
adopted  ;  that  he  bore  the  Declaration  to  Philadelphia 
and  delivered  it  to  Richard  Caswell  and  William 
Hooper,  delegates  in  Congress  from  North  Carolina. 
He  also  refers  to  the  Rev.  Francis  Cummins,  a  Pres- 
byterian clergyman  then  living  in  Greene  county, 

86954 


38  ADDRESS    OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

Georgia,  who  was  a  student  in  Charlotte  at  the  time 
of  the  adoption  of  said  resolutions,  as 'a  person  who 
was  well  acquainted  with  the  proceedings  in  question, 
and  as  also  having  a  recollection  of  them. 

The  Hon.  Nathaniel  Macon,  then  a  Senator  in 
Congress  from  North  Carolina,  was  communicated 
with  in  reference  to  the  matter,  and  entered  upon  the 
inquiry  in  a  patriotic  spirit,  and  through  him  the  cer- 
tificate of  Mr.  Cummins  was  obtained,  and  is  found 
in  the  State  publication  of  1830-31,  addressed  to  Mr. 
Macon.  Through  him,  also,  a  second  letter  was  ob- 
tained from  Captain  Jack.  (See  D,  page  142.)  Though 
Col.  Polk,  as  I  have  been  informed,  also  furnished  his 
own  certificate  in  corroboration  of  these,  I  regret  not 
to  find  it  among  the  published  testimony  of  1830,  and 
can  only  suggest  that  inasmuch  us  a  prominent  part 
in  the  great  drama  had  been  acted  by  his  father,  and 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  Legislature  was 
his  son,  and  the  proof  was  ample  without  his  recol- 
lections, he  caused  it  to  be  omitted  from  motives  of 
delicacy.  That  he  felt  a  deep  interest  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  fact,  and  continued  to  do  so  till  his 
death,  there  is  abundant  evidence.* 

*In  an  article  on  this  topic,  in  the  April  number  of  the 
North  American  Review  for  1874,  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Welling,  of 
Columbian  College,  D.  C.,  it  is  represented,  that  Col.  Polk  pro- 
cured evidence  to  contradict  some  points  of  John  McKnitt  Alex- 
ander's story,  and  himself  left  no  written  statement  as  to  the 
matter  in  question.  We  have  seen  how  earnestly  he  took  up 
the  controversy,  which  had  been  opened  by  the  letter  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  what  testimony  he  procured.  It  is  difficult  to 
perceive  in  what  particular  this  testimony  contradicts  the  ac- 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  39 

We  are  not  informed  that  Mr.  Jefferson  ever  re- 
curred to  the  subject  again.  No. one  in  Mecklen- 
burg appeared  to  contradict  it.  The  Raleigh  Reg- 
ister expressed  the  decided  opinion  "  that  no  doubt 
can  now  exist  of  the  truth  and  genuineness  of  the 
Declaration  of  the  20th  May,  1775,"  and  it  seemed 

count  of  Alexander,  or  in  what  it  was  intended  to  have  that  ef- 
fect. 

General  Thomas  G.  Polk,  the  eldest  son  of  the  same  Col.  Wm. 
Polk,  was  chairman  of  the  committee  in  the  Legislature,  which 
prepared  for  publication  the  pamphlet  of  1830-31,  being  then 
a  member  from  the  county  of  Rowan,  and  a  lodger  in  the  house 
of  his  father  in  Raleigh  daring  the  session.  The  Hon.  Louis  D. 
Henry,  a  brother-in-law  of  Col.  Polk,  was  also  a  member  of  this 
committee.  There  is,  therefore,  good  reason  to  believe  that 
Col.  Polk  was  fully  informed  of  the  statements  made  in  this 
publication  before  their  adoption,  and  approved  them.  This  is 
certainly  the  impression  of  his  descendants  and  connections, 
who  are  well  known  in  several  of  the  Southern  States. 

2.  It  may  be  proper  here  also  to  notice  that  in  the  same  article 
General  Joseph  Graham  is  said  to  be  the  son-in-law  of  John 
McKnitt  Alexander:  and  it  seems  to  be  considered  so  important 
a  fact  in  the  writer's  argument,  that  it  is  twice  or  thrice  repeat- 
ed.    It  is  not  a  fact,  but  a  palpable  error.     An  intermarriage 
between  a  couple  of  their  descendants,  years  after  the  death  of 
Alexander,  in  the  third  generation  from  him,  is  the  only  ground 
for  this  surmise. 

3.  Equally    unfounded  is  the  statement  made  by  the  same 
authority,  that  it    is  a    tradition  in    the    Brevard  family,  that 
their  ancestor,  Dr.  Ephraim  Brevard,  was  inspired  to  write  the 
Mecklenburg  Declaration   by  the    Westminster  Confession    of 
Faith.      A  family  whose  men,  as  officers  in  the  continental  line 
of   North  Carolina,    followed  "Washington  upon   the   Hudson, 
through  the  Jerseys  and  Pennsylvania,  and   Greene  at  Eutaw, 
and  who  have  borne  a  like  creditable  part  in  civil  life,  can  af- 
ford to  smile  at  such  trifling  as  this. 


40  ADDBESS   OF  WM.    A.    GKAHAM. 

no  longer  to  he  a  matter  of  controversy.  Cele- 
brations of  the  day  were  held  with  the  enthusiastic 
concurrence  of  the  people.  Had  there  been 
any  cavil  against  this  proof  at  that  time  (1820), 
it  doubtless  could  then  have  been  greatly  corrobo- 
rated. 

By  or  before  the  year  1830,  however,  Dr.  Alexan- 
der, who  had  made  the  first  publication  already  men- 
tioned, came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  a  wise 
precaution  to  procure  confirmatory  evidence  while 
•witnesses  were  yet  living  who  remembered  the  event. 
And  as  John  McKnitt  Alexander  had  been  heard  to 
state  that  he  had  placed  copies  of  these  proceedings 
in  the  hands  of  General  Davie,  and  of  Dr.  Hugh 
Williamson,  Dr.  Samuel  Henderson,  of  Charlotte, 
was  prevailed  on  to  apply  to  the  family  of  General 
Davie,  who  had  died  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
1820,  and  the  copy  was  found  accordingly  at  his  man- 
sion in  South  Carolina,  in  the  handwriting  of  John 
McKnitt  Alexander,  who  had  expired,  according  to 
Wheeler,  in  181T.  The  characters  of  General  Davie, 
of  his  son  Frederic  William  Davie,  and  of  Dr.  Hen- 
derson, afford  every  assurance  that  there  could  have 
been  no  collusion  or  imposture  in  relation  to  this  copy. 
The  lateness  of  its  production  only  shows  that  this 
being  a  public  affair,  and  the  business  of  no  one  in 
particular,  but  little  diligence  was  exercised  in  hunt- 
ing up  evidence — but  the  circumstances  of  the  dis- 
covery after  such  delay,  and  the  proof  of  handwriting, 
tend  powerfully  to  establish  the  fact  of  deposit  in  the 
life  time  of  General  Davie,  which  the  elder  Alexander 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  41 

had  stated  to  Judge  Cameron  in  1801,  not  long  subse- 
quent to  the  conflagration  of  his  mansion. 

Further  evidence  was  procured  in  the  form  of  a 
written  memoir  of  the  Rev.  Humphrey  Hunter, 
whose  memory  was  particularly  impressed  with  the 
proceedings,  from  the  fact,  that  he  was  at  the  time 
(20th  of  May,  1775)  a  few  days  over  20  years  of  age. 
lie  is  positive  and  precise  as  to  the  date,  and  that  the 
resolutions  declared  Independence.  His  subsequent 
life  to  the  age  of  seventy-three  years,  in  his  Profes- 
sion as  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  was  spent  in  this  re- 
gion of  country,  in  intimate  association  with  the  other 
Revolutionary  worthies  of  Mecklenburg,  and  his  ashes 
repose  in  her  soil.  For  his  character  as  a  soldier, 
citizen  and  Divine,  see  Wheeler's  History  of  North 
Carolina.  I  remember  him  well  in  my  youth ;  and 
he  is  yet  represented  in  the  person  of  a  son  residing 
in  Lincoln  county,  who  in  scientific  attainment  and 
moral  elevation  is  among  the  first  gentlemen  of  the 
State. 

To  the  same  purport  are  the  statements  of  Capt. 
Samuel  Wilson,  (Clerk)  Isaac  Alexander,  Major  John 
Davidson,  of  Mecklenburg,  Jas.  Johnston,  of  Tennes- 
see, and  Rev.  Francis  Cummins,  of  Georgia.  It  will 
be  observed  that  when  these  statements  were  made 
no  question  had  been  raised  as  to  the  meeting  having 
been  held  on  the  31st  instead  of  the  20th  of  May— 
they  were  given  in  rejoinder  to  a  denial  that  any 
meeting  at  all  had  been  held  which  looked  to  inde- 
pendence. Therefore  these  witnesses  do  not  specify 
the  day  of  the  month,  but  they  are  all  emphatic  in 


42  ADDBESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

the  assertion,  that  in  the  meeting  at  which  they  at- 
tended, independence  was  declared,  which  is  the 
great  point  at  issue. 

Gen.  Joseph  Graham,*  then  of  Lincoln  county, 
also  gave  his  testimony.  His  narrative  is  perhaps 
more  circumstantial  than  that  of  any  of  the  other  wit- 
nesses except  Capt.  Jack  and  Mr.  Hunter.  I  regret 
the  necessity  of.  speaking  of  his  evidence,  but  I  feel 
that  it  would  be  a  mistaken  delicacy,  not  to  claim  for 
it  that  weight  to  which  it  is  entitled,  in  a  matter  in 
which  he  makes  no  pretension  for  himself,  but  is  giv- 
ing his  recollection  of  a  transaction  conducted  alto- 
gether by  his  seniors.  To  the  suggestion  that  he  was 
at  the  time  but  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age,  I  re- 
ply that  in  that  time  and  country,  boys  often  fought 
in  the  ranks  of  men  at  an  earlier  age  than  this,  as  they 
have  done  at  all  times  on  our  frontiers ;  and  that  it 
was  in  this  same  region,  while  in  military  service  at 
the  age  of  fourteen,  Andrew  Jackson  received  the  only 
wound  that  ever  befell  him  in  his  great  military  ca- 
reer..! In  the  then  state  of  public  feeling  and  public 
events,  with  two  elder  brothers,  one  of  whom  has 
been  already  named  as  a  witness  in  this  controversy, 
both  soldiers  earlier  than  himself,  a  youth  of  his  age 
would  have  been  dull  of  comprehension  not  to  have 
understood  the  proceedings  of  that  meeting  and  been 
duly  impressed  by  them.  Nor  had  age  affected  him 


*  The  Father  of  the  speaker. 

f  The  military  age  established  May  4th,  1776,  was  from  sixteen 
to  sixty  years.  — Journal  Provincial  Congress,  p.  45. 


ADDRESS  ^OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  43 

when  he  testified  of  it  in  1830.  He  had  been  inter- 
ested in  the  controversy  in  regard  to  it  since  1819 
and  1820,  and  from  him  was  obtained  the  copy  of 
the  Proclamation  of  Governor  Martin,*  inserted  in  the 
same  paper  with  the  first  publication,  as  before  stated, 
of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration.  He  was  more  fa- 
miliar with  the  history  of  the  Revolutionary  war  in  the 
South,  than  any  one  I  have  ever  been  acquainted 
with,  and  at  the  request  of  Judge  Murphey,  in  1820 
and  1821,  furnished  him  from  memory  with  written 
memoranda  of  the  military  history  of  the  Revolution 
in  the  State,  to  be  used  in  his  contemplated  history 
of  Xorth  Carolina,  which  from  study  and  comparison 
with  documents  he  never  saw,  I  have  found  singular- 
ly accurate.  To  his  pen  in  these  papers,  the  State  is 
indebted  for  the  rescue  from  oblivion  of  the  narra- 
tive of  the  battle  of  Ramsour's  Mill  (copied  by  Wheel- 
er), the  connection  of  the  events  of  1780-'81,  in  their 
order  of  sequence,  and  the  vindication  of  her  fame, 
by  the  correction  of  many  errors  into  which  the  wri- 
ters of  history  have  fallen,  to  her  disparagement. 
Though  he  never  designed  them  for  the  press,  but  as 
mere  notes  for  Mr.  Murphey.  after  the  failure  of  this 
gentleman's  undertaking,  in  which  they  were  to  have 
been  used,  I  consented  to  their  publication  in  the 
University  Magazine  in  1856,  in  the  hope  of  preserv- 


*  This  was  found  among  the  title  deeds  of  an  aged  illiterate  Ger- 
man neighbor  in  Lincoln  County,  twenty-five  miles  from  Char- 
lotte, in  1816  or  '17,  on  occasion  of  writing  his  will,  and  is  copied 
in  University  Magazine,  March,  1856. 


44  ADDKESS   OF   WM.    A.    GKAHAM. 

ing  them  for  some  author  in  the  future.  How  Ju  Ige 
Murphey  valued  them  may  be  seen  in  his  correspond- 
ence with  General  Graham  in  the  University  Mag- 
azine, December,  1854.  He  had  the  best  opportuni- 
ties to  observe  what  was  done  and  said  on  public  sub- 
jects in  Mecklenburg,  and  occasion  for  remembering 
them  in  all  this  period  of  her  history.  In  military 
service  with  his  neighbors  of  the  county  from  1778 
till  the  end  of  the  war — her  sheriff  from  early  after 
its  close  till  1788,  when  for  the  seven  succeeding 
years  he  washer  Senator  in  the  Legislature — her  dela- 
gate  in  conjunction  with  General  Robert  Irwin  in 
both  of  the  Conventions  which  considered  the  ques- 
tion of  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  ;  and 
though  removing  to  an  adjoining  county  in  1794,  he 
kept  up  a  familiar  acquaintance  in  Mecklenburg 
throughout  his  life.  His  recollections,  therefore,  I 
esteem  as  reliable  as  any  evidence  of  this  nature  can 
be.  At  his  death  in  1836,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven, 
hardly  any  decay  of  his  faculties  was  perceptible.  Of 
General  George  Graham  it  may  be  stated,  that  with 
two  years  greater  age,  he  had  equal  opportunities  of 
information,  and  for  keeping  in  his  memory  the  events 
of  Mecklenburg.  lie  formed  one  of  the  party  to 
arrest  and  convey  into  South  Carolina  the  Tory  law- 
yers of  Salisbury  a  few  weeks  after  this  declaration 
— was  under  Col.  Thomas  Polk  in  the  expedition 
against  the  Highlanders  and  other  Tories  on  the  Cape 
Fear  in  February,  1776  ;  in  that  of  Rutherford  against 
the  Cherokee  Indians  in  the  summer  of  the  same 
year;  under  Sumter  and  Irwin  at  Hanging  Rock; 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  45 

under  Col.  "William  Polk  in  the  South  Carolina  State 
troops  at  Eutaw ;  he,  too,  was  familiar  with  the  men 
of  the  county  as  comrades  in  arms,  and  as  their  public 
servant  almost  to  the  close  of  life — succeeded  his 
brother  in  the  office  of  sheriff — was  clerk  of  the  Supe- 
rior Court,  Major  General  of  Militia,  and  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  in  the  one  or  the  other  House  from 
this  county,  for  more  than  twenty  years — terminating 
in  1813.  His  death  occurred  in  1826,  with  mental 
faculties  unimpaired  to  the  last.  With  Messrs.  Wil- 
liam Hutchison,  Jonas  Clark,  and  Robert  Robinson, 
who  united  with  him  in  the  testimonial  given  to  Col. 
Polk  in  1820,  my  inferiority  in  age  allowed  no  per- 
sonal acquaintance,  but  I  have  assurance  that  they 
had  all  been  good  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  and  en- 
joyed the  entire  respect  and  confidence  of  their  con- 
temporaries. 

Equal  to  these  in  their  claims  to  credibility  were 
Capt.  James  Jack,  of  Georgia,  Clerk  Isaac  Alexan- 
der, Capt.  Samuel  Wilson,  Maj.  John  Davidson,  of 
Mecklenburg,  Mr.  James  Johnston,  of  Tennessee, 
and  the  Rev.  Francis  Cummins,  of  Georgia.  It  is  to 
be  observed,  that  no  one  of  these  witnesses  in  testi- 
f}7ing  sought  to  magnify  his  own  consequence. 
Major  Davidson  was  the  only  one  among  them  all, 
who  had  been  a  delegate  in  the  meeting.  He  had 
reached  a  very  old  age  at  the  time  of  deposing,  but 
gives  an  intelligent  narrative,  and  did  not  assume  to 
have  acted  a  conspicuous  part.  All  the  others  declare 
that  they  were  spectators  merely,  at  the  council  of 
the  grave  and  elderly  men  of  their  county — and  bear 


46  ADDRESS   OP  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

witness  of  the  patriotism  and  heroism  of  others,  not 
of  their  own. 

It  may  be  also  confidently  asserted  that  this  mass 
of  testimony  would,  at  the  time  it  was  given,  have  de- 
termined the  title  of  any  estate  in  that  county ;  and 
if  the  question  were  whether  a  deed  which  had  been 
lost  was  designed  to  convey  the  absolute  property  in 
law  or  only  an  estate  for  years,  or  on  condition,  there 
would  have  been  no  difficulty  in  this  evidence  in 
maintaining  that  the  entire  fee  had  passed  ;  and,  as 
little  that  it  bore  date  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775 ; 
and  an  impartial  Chancellor  would  have  directed  the 
conveyance  to  be  renewed  accordingly.  It  is,  how- 
ever, not  a  question  at  nisiprius,  to  be  tried  on  the 
testimony  alone  of  the  witnesses  whose  certificates 
were  taken. 

The  witnesses  who  gave  written  evidence  are  but 
a  tithe  of  those  who  testify  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775. 
Where  are  those  Revolutionary  soldiers,  wrho  ap- 
peared, as  we  have  seen,  at  the  celebration  of  1825, 
sixty  to  seventy  in  number;  of  whom  twenty-seven 
again  attended  at  the  celebration  of  1835,  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  fields  of  Stono,  Eutaw,  Camden  and 
'Hanging  Rock  at  the  South,  and  some  of  them  at 
least  of  White  Plains,  Brandywine,  and  German- 
town  at  the  North  ?  They  were  old  enough  to  re- 
member what  had  occurred  in  their  own  county  in 
1775,  and  though,  it  may  be,  not  personally  present 
at  the  meeting  on  the  20th  of  May  in  that  year,  to 
have  heard  by  current  report  of  every  public  event 


ADDRESS  OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  47 

of  the  times ;  and  if  they  had  not  heard  of,  and  be- 
lieved, this  from  1775  onward,  who  supposes  they 
would  have  joined  in  the  celebrations,  or  not  contra- 
dicted the  error?  Moreover,  the  juniors  of  these 
who  were  of  middle  or  younger  age,  .the  descendants 
of  those,  among  whom  almost  every  man  had  been  a 
soldier  in  no  holiday  sense,  and  who  from  the  tradi- 
tions of  their  fathers,  knew  the  story  of  the  Revolu- 
tion by  heart,  if  they  had  not  heard  of  it,  as  they  did 
of  the  expeditions  of  1775  and  '76,  who  presumes 
they  would  have  yielded  an  universal  belief  upon  the 
announcement  of  the  fact  in  a  newspaper  supported 
by  a  half  dozen  testimonials  from  sources  however 
respectable  ?  The  truth  is,  the  publication  of  Dr. 
Alexander,  in  1819,  announced  nothing  that  was  new 
to  Mecklenburg.  Her  people  had  this  Declaration 
in  memory  as  they  had  the  fame  of  the  men  they 
had  sent  forth  to  battle  for  Independence,  to  whom 
even  yet  history  has  never  done  justice,  and  therefore 
they  seconded  its  assertion  with  a  unanimous  voice. 

Critics  may  amuse  their  ingenuity  by  strictures  on 
the  certificates  of  veterans  who,  as  I  knew  one  to  re- 
mark, were  "  better  at  fighting  than  writing,  and 
could  make  better  marks  with  their  swords  than  with 
their  pens,"  but  they  can  make  no  satisfactory  plea  to 
that  grand  certificate  of  the  concurrence  of  all  the 
surviving  soldiers  of  the  Revolution  from  1819  to 
1835,  and  the  harmonious  concord  of  the  sons  of 
those  who  had  perished  in  the  struggle  or  died  prior 
to  the  publication  in  1819.  The  old  men  knew  it 
from  recollection  or  common  report,  the  younger  by 


48  ADDRESS    OF   WM.    A.    GEAHAM. 

tradition.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  a  whole  people, 
who  may  have  their  subjects  of  dispute  as  to  other 
matters,  should  be  deceived  and  deluded  into  an  un- 
divided belief  on  this.  Let  us  illustrate  by  an  ex- 
ample. It  is  within  the  remembrance  of  many  now 
living,  that  in  1814  a  Regiment  of  Militia  under  Col. 
Jesse  A.  Pearson,  being  part  of  a  Brigade  commanded 
by  the  above-named  Gen.  Joseph  Graham,  was  levied 
in  Mecklenburg  and  the  adjacent  counties,  and 
served  for  six  months  under  Jackson  against  the 
Creek  Indians  in  Alabama  Territory.  It  is  also  a 
fact  that  owing  to  the  want  of  a  timely  provision  of 
funds  by  the  United  States,  these  troops  were  delayed 
a  month  or  more  at  Salisbury,  their  place  of  rendez- 
vous, and  were  therefore  too  late  in  arriving  at  the 
seat  of  war  for  the  battle  of  the  Horse-Shoe,  in  which 
they  would  otherwise  have  participated.  Suppose 
after  the  lapse  of  forty -five  years,  or  even  now  at  the 
end  of  sixty  years,  a  pretension  had  been  set  up  that 
this  Regiment  had  won  laurels,  by  bearing  an  active 
part  in  the  battle  of  the  Horse-Shoe,  and  it  had  been 
proposed  to  celebrate  it  by  a  public  demonstration. 
Independently  of  other  evidence  to  the  contrary,  who 
believes  that  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  that  expedi- 
tion who  survived,  or  the  children  of  the  dead,  could 
have  been  engaged  in  any  such  imposture  or  delusion  ? 
If  a  contemporaneous  exposition  is  generally  the 
best  construction  of  a  statute  made  long  ago,  because 
it  gives  the  sense  of  a  community  living  at  the  time 
of  enactment,  of  the  terms  made  use  of  by  the  Legis- 
lature, surely  the  acquiescence  of  a  people  in  the  Teal- 


ADDRESS   OF   \YM.   A.    GRAHAM.  49 

ity  of  a  transaction,  which  was  asserted  more  than  fifty 
years  back,  and  when,  if  untrue,  there  were  scores  of 
living  persons  who  could  and  would  have  contradicted 
it,  is  equally  convincing  proof  of  its  actual  occurrence.* 
Curiosity,  however,  is  excited  to  learn  in  what 
manner  the  memorial  of  this  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence was  preserved  to  later  times.  The  expla- 
nation is,  that  the  journal  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Mecklenburg  Committee,  originating  at  the  incipi- 
ent period  of  the  Revolution  and  continued  long 
years  afterwards  as  a  county  organization,  which  con- 
tained the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  20th  of 

*  At  the  mass  meeting  in  Charlotte,  February  4th,  1875,  I  was 
shown  a  number  of  the  Catawba  Journal,  published  in  that 
town  October  19th,  1824,  containing  a  copy  of  an  Oration  by  Dr. 
M.  W.  Alexander,  at  Hopewell  Church  in  Mecklenburg,  deliv- 
ered on  the  4th  of  July  in.  that  year,  in  which  the  Resolutions 
of  Independence  by  that  county  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  are 
inserted  in  full,  with  a  narration  of  the  circumstances  of  their 
adoption.  The  speaker  then  proceeds  as  follows:  "These  are 
transactions  with  which  you,  together  with  the  citizens  of  the 
neighboring  counties,  have  long  been  familiar  ;  that  have  been 
the  frequent  topics  of  conversation  among  us  for  fifty  years. 
These  were  the  proceedings  of  our  fathers,  our  relatives,  and 
fellow-citizens,  every  individual  of  whom  has  descended  to  the 
tomb — but  these  are  their  living  deeds  of  patriotism,"  etc. 

This  oration  also  recites  the  resolutions  of  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress at  Halifax,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1776,  empowering  the 
delegates  from  North  Carolina  in  the  Continental  Congress  to 
vote  for  absolute  independence  in  advance  of  the  other  Colonies, 
and  corrects  the  claim,  in  Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  that  tha 
Virginia  resolutions  of  like  import,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1776,  were 
prior  to  those  of  any  other  State.  Upon  which,  the  editor  re- 
marks that  the  fact  that  the  instruction  of  North  Carolina  to  her 


50  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

May,  1775,  was  preserved  in  the  care  of  John  McKnitt 
Alexander,  as  Secretary,  and  was  consumed  in  the 
destruction  of  his  mansion  by  fire  in  the  year  1800. 
And  that  prior  to  its  destruction  he  had  endeavored 
to  give  this  document  publicity  by  furnishing  one 
copy  to  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  who  had  announced 
his  purpose  to  publish  a  history  of  North.  Carolina, 
and  another  to  Gen.  Wm.  R.  Davie,  a  distinguished 
soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  subsequently  Governor 
of  the  State.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  he  or  his  son, 
before-named,  who  was  of  mature  years  and  head  of 
a  family  before  1800,  retained  still  another  copy 

delegates  in  Congress  to  vote  for  independence  as  early  as  12th 
of  April,  1776,  was  new  to  him,  but  is  verified  by  a  copy  of  the 
Journal  of  the  Congress  which  had  been  left  in  his  office.  But 
the  Mecklenburg  proceedings,  being  a  well  known  transaction, 
called  forth  no  comment. 

At  the  same  meeting,  the  Hon.  J.  Harvey  Wilson,  of  Char- 
lotte, a  former  Speaker  of  the  State  Senate,  in  a  public  speech, 
stated  that,  as  a  young  lawyer,  he  had  drawn  the  declarations  for 
pensions,  under  the  Act  of  Congress  of  1832,  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  Revolutionary  soldiers  in  Mecklenburg,  recently  after  the 
passage  of  that  act,  and  that  nearly  all  of  them  in  giving  ac- 
counts of  their  lives,  as  required  by  the  regulations  of  the  Pen- 
sion Office,  made  allusion  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in 
that  county  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  and  verified  the  state- 
ment by  their  affidavits. 

He  further  mentioned,  that  about  the  same  time,  he  had  heard 
a  description  of  the  scene,  at  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions  of 
Independence  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  and  the  demonstrations 
of  the  populace  which  ensued,  from  Mrs.  Smart,  a  Mecklenburg 
lady  of  remarkable  intelligence,  then  surviving,  who  was  in  Char- 
lotte on  that  day,  and  that  her  narrative  corresponded  with  those 
of  the  witnesses  who  gave  written  evidence  of  the  transaction. 


ADDRESS    OF    WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  51 

which  escaped  the  conflagration  of  his  house.  The 
averment  which  we  have  from  Mr.  Alexander  of  his 
delivering  the  copies  to  Williamson  and  Davie  is  con- 
tinued : 

1st.  By  the  testimony  of  Gov.  Stokes,  already  cited, 
stating  in  substance  that  in  the  year  1793  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson exhibited  to  him,  in  Fayetteville,  N.  C.,  a  copy 
of  the  said  Mecklenburg  Declaration  in  the  hand- 
writing of  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  which  was 
known  to  Governor  Stokes. 

2d.  By  the  statement  of  Duncan  Cameron,  then 
a  practicing  lawyer,  subsequently  a  Judge  of  the 
Superior  Courts  and  President  of  the  Bank  of  the 
State,  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Alexander  had  informed 
him  of  the  circumstances  of  this  declaration,  and  of 
his  placing  a  copy  in  the  possession  of  Gen.  Davie  ; 
and  that  after  the  destruction  of  the  original  in  his 
dwelling,  he  referred  again  to  the  same  topic,  remark- 
ing that  by  reason  of  this  deposit  "  the  document  was 
safe."  Dr.  Williamson  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  who 
came  to  the  State  about  the  close  of  the  Revolution- 
ary AVar,  and  resided  in  Edenton.  He  represented 
North  Carolina  in  the  Continental  and  first  Federal 
Congress,  and  in  the  Federal  Convention,  after  which 
he  went  to  reside  in  New  York.  His  work,  entitled 
a  History  of  North  Carolina,  published  in  1812, 
is  confined  to  the  colonial  period,  and  extends  only  to 
the  time  of  the  Regulators  in  1771. 

3d.  It  is  likewise  corroborated  by  a  letter  from  Mr. 
D.  G.  Stinson,  a  gentleman  now  above  80  years  of 
age,  who  in  a  recent  letter  from  Rock  Hill,  S.  C.,  in- 


52  ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

forms  me  that  in  1813,  when  himself  a  student  in  the 
Academy  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wallace  of  Providence, 
Mecklenburg,  a  son-in-law  of  John  McKnitt  Alexan- 
der, he  heard  said  Alexander,  upon  occasion  of  a  visit 
of  a  month  at  that  place,  relate  the  circumstances  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1775 ;  and  the  further  fact,  that  having  been  in 
Philadelphia  afterwards  in  that  year,  he  communi- 
cated the  facts  and  circumstances  to  Dr.  Franklin, 
who  expressed  approbation  of  the  act. 

Of  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  I  have  no  personal 
recollection.  That  he  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in 
those  days  of  peril  and  revolution  appears  from  the  tes- 
timony of  Gen.  George  Graham,  and  others,  already 
recited,  and  from  the  facts  stated  by  Wheeler,  that 
he  was  one  of  the  delegates  from  Mecklenburg  to  the 
Provincial  Congress  at  Hillsboro'  in  August,  1775,  at 
Halifax  in  April,  1776,  her  first  senator  under  the 
republican  Constitution,  in  1777,  one  of  the  Trustees 
of  the  College  of  "  Queen's  Museum,"  subsequently 
changed  to  "Liberty  Hall,"  and  from  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  Board  of  War  that  Gen.  Davidson,  at  the 
head  of  the  militia  in  1780,  named  his  encampment 
in  Mecklenburg,  "  Camp  McKnitt  Alexander." 

Mr.  Wheeler  also  extracts  from  a  Charlotte  news- 
paper of  1837,  a  paper  entitled  Instructions  for  the 
delegates  of  Mecklenburg  county,  proposed  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  county,  dated  1st  of  September,  1775, 
stated  to  have  been  found  among  his  papers,  doubt- 
less furnished  by  his  son  already  mentioned,  begin- 
ning thus  :  "  You  are  instructed  to  vote  that  the  late 


ADDEESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  53 

Province  of  North  Carolina  is,  and  of  right  ought  to 
be,  a  free  and  independent  State,  invested  with  all 
power  of  Legislation,  capable  of  making  laws  to  regu- 
late all  its  internal  policy,  subject  only  in  its  external 
connections  and  foreign  commerce,  to  a  negative  of  a 
Continental  Senate." 

Whether  this  was  adopted  by  the  county  does  not 
appear,  but  the  spirit  of  it  was  fully  carried  out  at 
the  Congress,  in  April,  1776,  of  which  Mr.  Alexander 
was  a  member,  in  the  resolutions  instructing  the 
North  Carolina  delegates  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress to  concur  in  voting  for  absolute  independence. 

That  this  striking  event  was  not  made  the  subject 
of  commentary  in  our  newspapers  until  published  in 
1819,  should  occasion  no  surprise  to  those  who  have 
studied  the  history  of  the  State,  and  know  in  what  a 
confused  and  neglected  mass  all  its  materials  then  lay. 
If  so  well  informed  an  American  as  Mr.  Jefferson 
must  be  conceded  to  have  been,  in  1819,  did  not 
know  the  position  of  Mecklenburg  on  the  map,  and 
supposed  it  might  adjoin  Buncombe,  the  locality  of 
the  fictitious  volcano  played  off  as  a  newspaper  hoax, 
from  which  it  is  one  hundred  miles  distant,  with  the 
Blue  Ridge  towering  between,  who  except  her  own 
people  should  be  expected  to  know  her  history  ?  The 
historians  to  whom  he  refers  —  Williamson,  whose 
work  extends  but  to  1771,  Horry,  Ramsay,  Marshall, 
Jones,  Girardin,  Wirt, — not  one  of  them  had  pene- 
trated so  far  into  our  public  history  as  to  be  aware 
of  the  Resolutions  of  the  31st  of  May,  1775,  or  to 
discover  the  well-established  fact,  that  North  Caro- 


54  ADDRESS   OF   \VM.   A.    GEAHAM. 

lina  in  her  Provincial  Congress  at  Halifax  on  the  12th 
of  April,  1776,  instructed  her  delegates  in  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  to  vote  for  absolute  independence  of 
the  British  Crown.  (I  impute  no  unjust  design  ;  it 
was  perhaps  our  own  fault  in  not  causing  it  to  be 
made  generally  known.)  Some  of  them  do  mention 
that  Yirginia  gave  such  instruction  in  Maj-  succeed- 
ing, and  suppose  that  to  have  been  the  earliest  move- 
ment of  the  kind.  If  they  were  thus  uninformed  as 
to  our  public  and  general  history,  how  are  their  omis- 
sions authority  in  respect  to  a  popular  meeting,  a 
local  assemblage  in  the  county  of  Mecklenburg,  some 
months  earlier  ?  The  fact  is,  the  revival  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Resolutions  at  Halifax  was  made  about 
the  same  time  and  by  the  same  individual,  Dr.  Jos. 
McKnitt  Alexander,  with  the  publication  of  the 
Mecklenburg  Declaration  in  the  Raleigh  Register: 
and  it  produced  as  much  surprise  among  writers  of 
history,  and  as  much  satisfaction  among  the  people  of 
the  State,  as  the  declaration  at  Charlotte.  It  was 
permitted  to  pass  unchallenged  upon  the  authority  of 
the  Journal  of  the  Congress  which  Alexander  had 
inherited  from  his  father,  as  would,  in  my  belief,  the 
Mecklenburg  proceeding,  except  that  the  latter  was 
questioned  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  was  supposed  by 
some  to  lay  claim  to  a  domain  in  which  he  was  en- 
titled to  a  monopoly — a  domain  to  which  in  May, 
1775,  as  will  presently  appear,  he  had  set  up  no  claim 
in  mind  or  heart. 

The  first  forty-five  years  of  the  Republic  of  North 
Carolina  did  not  produce  even  a  pamphlet  on  any  sub- 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  55 

jeet  of  her  history,  except  the  abortive  effort  of  Wil- 
liamson, heretofore  noticed.  This  utter  want  of  a 
history  was  felt  as  a  public  misfortune  by  the  intelli- 
gent men  of  the  State,  and  by  none  more  than  the 
surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolution.  In 
1819,  or  1820,  the  Hon.  Archibald  D.  Murphey,  who 
in  the  preceding  seven  or  eight  years,  as  a  senator 
from  the  county  of  Orange  in  the  State  Legislature, 
had  aroused  the  pride  and  spirit  of  the  people  of  the 
State  on  the  subject  of  internal  improvement  and 
popular  education,  at  the  instance  of  many  friends 
undertook  the  task  of  writing  her  history — an  office 
to  which  he  was  eminently  adapted  by  scholarship, 
patience,  and  capacity  for  research,  facility  in  compo- 
sition, a  philosophic  mind  and  a  zealous  patriotism. 
Although,  from  causes  not  necessary  to  be  related, 
Mr.  Murphey  failed  in  the  brief  remainder  of  his  life 
to  execute  this  work,  the  very  undertaking  accom- 
plished for  the  State,  though  in  an  inferior  degree, 
what  had  been  done  by  historical  societies  for  other 
States,  in  collecting  materials  for  history,  from  the 
recollections  of  old  men  then  alive,  the  correspond- 
ence and  papers  found  with  the  families  of  the  dead, 
the  public  records,  and  other  sources.  How  barren 
Mr.  Murphey  then  found  the  field  he  undertook  to 
till,  though  with  abundant  materials  for  improvement 
if  sought  out  from  their  hidden  recesses,  we  shall  re- 
late in  his  own  words,  in  a  correspondence,  July  20th, 
1821,  with  General  Joseph  Graham,  from  whom  he 
requested  reminiscences  of  the  military  history  of  the 
State  durinir  the  Revolution  : 


56  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM 

"  Your  letter  to  Col.  Conner,"  says  he,  "  first  sug- 
gested to  me  the  plan  of  a  work  which  I  will  execute 
if  I  live.  It  is  a  work  on  the  history,  soil,  climate, 
legislation,  civil  institutions,  literature,  etc.,  of  this 
State.  Soon  after  reading  your  letter,  I  turned  my 
attention  to  the  subject  in  the  few  hours  I  could 
snatch  from  business,  and  I  was  surprised  to  find 
what  abundant  materials  could,  with  care  and  dili- 
gence, be  collected  ;  materials  which,  if  well  disposed, 
would  furnish  matter  for  one  of  the  most  interesting 
works  that  has  been  published  in  this  country.  We 
want  such  a  work.  We  neither  know  ourselves  nor 
are  we  known  to  others.  Such  a  work,  well  execu- 
ted, would  add  very  much  to  our  standing  in  the 
Union,  and  make  us  respectable  in  our  own  eyes.  I 
love  North  Carolina  ;  and  love  her  the  more  because 
so  much  injustice  has  been  done  to  her.  We  want 
pride ;  we  want  independence  ;  we  want  magnanimity. 
Knowing  nothing  of  ourselves,  we  have  nothing  in 
our  history  to  which  we  can  turn  with  conscious  pride. 
We  know  nothing  of  our  State,  and  care  nothing 
about  it.  I  feel  some  zeal  upon  the  subject,  for  a 
large  portion  of  our  history  now  lives  only  in  the  re- 
collection of  a  few  survivors  of  the  Revolution.  We 
must  soon  embody  it,  or  it  will  be  entirely  lost."  * 

With  so  ID  uch  of  the  materials  of  the  history  of  the 
State  thus  in  the  condition  of  waifs,  floating  in  the 
memories  of  a  few  surviving  veterans  of  the  war  of 

o 

independence,  does  it  surprise  any  one  that  the  brave 
*  University  Magazine,  Dec.,  1854. 


ADDEESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  57 

men  of  Mecklenburg,  who  proclaimed  independence 
on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  should  thus  long  have 
shared  the  fate  of  those  who  lived  before  Agamemnon, 
in  not  finding  an  author  to  celebrate  their  deeds? 
Caswell,  Hooper  and  Hewes,  the  delegates  in  Congress 
to  whom  the  paper  was  conveyed  in  Philadelphia  by 
Captain  Jack,  and  who  might  have  given  it  publicity 
had  their  lives  been  prolonged,  all  passed  away  with- 
in six  or  seven  years  after  the  close  of  the  war,  before 
the  general  government  had  become  settled  under 
the  Federal  Constitution,  or  the  State  had  even  fixed 
a  permanent  seat  of  government. 

Col.  Thomas  Polk,  after  an  active  and  useful  mili- 
tary career,  died  within  the  same  period.  Brevard 
fell  a  victim  to  confinement  in  a  British  prisonship 
after  the  surrender  of  Charleston  in  1780,  living  only  to 
reach  the  house  of  John  McKnitt  Alexander  in 
Mecklenburg. 

The  College  at  Charlotte  was  broken  up  by  the 
British  invasion  ;  no  newspaper  was  published  in  all 
the  State  west  of  Raleigh,  from  the  Revolution  down 
till  the  Summer  of  1820,  unless  it  was  one  very  tem- 
porarily in  Salisbury,  and  the  general  impoverishment 
of  the  country  induced  by  the  war  was  such  as  to  en- 
gross all  in  the  ordinary  avocations  of  business,  so 
that  no  one  in  that  region  turned  attention  to  author- 
ship, either  in  history  or  any  branch  of  letters.  The 
men  who  had  served  their  country  either  in  council 
or  in  the  field,  left  to  others  the  task  of  commemo- 
rating their  acts.  The  historians  in  other  States  had 
given  but  little  attention  to  Revolutionary  events  in 


58  ADDRESS   OF   \YM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

this;  and  one  of  the  difficulties  of  illustrating  our 
subject  at  present,  is  the  uncertainty  as  to  how  much 
acquaintance  with  local  history  in  that  section  is  to 
be  presumed  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  or  hearer. 
Of  the  battle  of  Ramsour's  Mill,  no  written  notice 
was  ever  taken,  until  the  account  furnished  by  Gen- 
eral Graham  to  Judge  Murphey,  and  by  him  to  the  pub- 
lic in  1820,  which  has  been  republished  by  Wheeler. 
Yet  but  for  this  timely  and  decisive  blow  by  Locke 
and  his  brave  associates  in  dispersing  a  body  of  loyal- 
ists, thirteen  hundred  in  number,  and  which  would 
have  grown  to  thousands,  then  assembling  under 
Moore  and  Welsh,  in  order  to  join  the  British  in 
South  Carolina,  when  exulting  in  the  fall  of  Charleston, 
and  the  subsequent  massacre  of  Buford's  command  on 
our  own  frontier,  the  result  might  have  sealed  the  doom 
of  the  American  cause  in  the  South  in  the  Summer  of 
1780.  In  its  salutary  effect  it  was  like  to  the  brilliant 
victory  at  King's  Mountain  three  months  later,  and 
that  at  Moore's  Creek  in  New  Hanover  in  February, 
1776.  Of  King's  Mountain,  though  generally  known 
as  a  decisive  victory,  no  details  had  been  given  of  the 
campaign  which  it  terminated,  the  levies  of  men  un- 
der the  several  commanders,  the  number  of  each  or- 
ganization, their  pursuit  of  Ferguson,  the  order  and 
incidents  of  the  battle,  with  a  diagram  of  the  field, 
until  collected  and  brought  out  by  the  same  hand,  in 
the  report  which  has  been  republished  in  Foote's 
Sketches  of  North  Carolina. 

Again,  where  are  the  particulars  of  the  service  of 
the  men  of  Mecklenburg,  Rowan,  and  Gaston,  in  the 


ADDKESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  59 

two  British  invasions  of  the  State  in  17SO-'81 — the 
action  at  Charlotte,  and  skirmishing  before  and  after 
— Mclntire's  farm — Cowan's  Ford — Torrence's  Tav- 
ern— Trading  Ford — the  investment  of  General 
Pickens,  of  South  Carolina,  with  the  command  of 
Davidson's  Brigade  after  the  fall  of  their  General 
(which  occasions  them  to  be  mistaken  by  Lee,  in  his 
"  Memoirs  of  the  War  in  the  South,"  for  South 
Carolina  troops) — of  Clapp's  Mill — Whitsell's  Mill — 
the  expedition  of  Rutherford  against  "Wilmington  in 
the  autumn  of  1781,  when  held  by  Major  Craig  and 
his  Tory  allies  ?  Where  are  these  to  be  found,  ex- 
cept in  these  Murphey  memoranda,  written  in  1820- 
'21,  and  published  in  the  University  Magazine  in 
1856?  If,  therefore,  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration 
was  destined  to  a  long  night  of  negligence  and  ob 
scurity  before  being  presented  to  the  muse  of  history, 
it  slept  by  the  side  of  military  exploits,  the  traditions 
of  which  form  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary fame  of  the  State.  In  the  process  of  ex- 
humation it  came  out  of  the  rubbish  a  year  or  two 
in  advance  of  them.  And  let  it  not  be  forgotten, 
that  its  authenticity  rests  upon  the  evidence  of  other 
witnesses  in  addition  to  his,  who  is  the  author  of  these 
narratives.  And  the  incredulity  which  rejects  it  is 
much  more  prepared  to  blot  out  all  that  we  have 
heard  and  believed  in  relation  to  the  military  inci- 
dents in  the  same  part  of  the  country,  by  which  it 
was  in  no  long  time  followed.  All  history  is  but  the 
narration  of  the  author,  from  personal  knowledge  or 
upon  information  from  credible  sources.  We  believe 


60  ADDKESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

that  Csesar  invaded  Gaul,  because  he  so  wrote  two 
thousand  years  ago.  We  believe  that  Davie 
slaughtered  a  Tory  regiment  on  the  very  edge  of  the 
British  camp,  near  Hanging  Rock,  having  not  time 
•to  give  quarter  and  take  prisoners ;  we  believe  that 
he  made  a  gallant  stand  in  Charlotte  against  the  ad- 
vance of  Tarleton's  cavalry ;  but  among  American 
historians  we  first  had  these  events  from  Lee,  who 
did  not  join  the  Southern  army  till  months  after  their 
occurrence,  in  memoirs  not  published  till  thirty  years 
later.  And  it  requires  no  strain  on  credulity  to  be- 
lieve the  followers  of  Davie  who  bear  witness  of  the 
Declaration  of  Mecklenburg,  as  an  incident  of  which 
they  had  the  evidence  of  their  senses  only  five  years 
earlier  than  of  these  achievements  in  arms. 

It  is  deemed  hardly  necessary  to  notice  the  objec- 
tion that  the  courts  of  justice  were  at  this  time  held 
under  the  authority  of  the  King,  and  that  the  inci- 
dent related  of  the  reading  of  the  declaration  borne 
by  Captain  Jack  in  court  at  Salisbury  could  not  have 
been  true.  Any  one  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
the  period,  knows  that  the  royal  authority  in  the 
State  was  everywhere  in  the  feeblest  condition.  The 
Provincial  Congresses,  since  August,  1774,  had  been 
composed  of  members  of  the  Legislature  who,  while 
sitting  as  such,  found  intervals  to  carry  forward  their 
patriotic  work  notwithstanding  inhibiting  Proclama- 
tions from  the  Governor ;  and  the  Governor  himself, 
as  early  as  July,  made  his  exit  from  our  shores  at 
Wilmington  to  a  refuge  on  board  the  Cruiser.  Magis- 
trates, if  they  did  not  sympathize  in  the  proceeding, 


ADDRESS    OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  61 

observed  only  ordinary  prudence  in  stepping  aside  for 
the  occasion  lest  the  breezes  that  passed  over  them 
should  rise  into  gales. 

But,  say  our  objectors,  if  such  resolutions  were 
ever  sent  to  Philadelphia,  there  should  be  found  some 
evidence  of  the  fact  in  the  journals  of  Congress.  It 
requires  but  little  research  to  show  that  this  is  but  a 
cavil,  proceeding  from  an  utter  ignorance  of  the  mode 
of  conducting  business  in  the  Congress,  and  the  state 
of  sentiment  then  prevailing  among  its  members.  It 
was  among  the  first  rules  of  order  of  the  body, 
adopted  in  September,  1774,  "that  the  door  be  kept 
shut  during  the  time  of  business,  and  that  members 
consider  themselves  under  the  strongest  obligations  of 
honor  to  keep  the  proceedings  secret,  until  the  ma- 
jority shall  direct  them  to  be  made  public."  But 
there  was  a  far  more  potential  reason  than  this  ;  and 
Congress  at  that  time,  say  May  or  June,  177'5,  would 
as  soon  have  thought  of  entering  on  their  Journal  a 
proposition  to  assassinate  King  George,  or  to  burn  the 
city  of  London,  as  to  declare  independence  of  Great 
Britain.  N"o  single  member  favored  it,  or,  judging 
from  the  best  evidence  afforded  us,  desired  it. 

Here  I  approach  considerations  pertaining  to  this 
topic  which  I  am  surprised  should  have  been  over- 
looked in  all  former  discussions,  and  which  appear  to 
have  faded  entirely  from  the  memory  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  also,  as  now  appears,  from  that  of  Mr.  Adams 
at  the  date  of  the  letter  from  which  we  have  quoted. 

The  second  Continental  Congress  met  on  the  10th 
of  May,  1775.  Mr.  Jefferson  then  first  took  his  seat 


62  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

as  a  member,  and  successor  to  Peyton  Randolph.  It 
is  a  fact,  capable  of  the  clearest  demonstration,  that 
Congress  were  more  nearly  unanimous  against  inde- 
pendence during  this  entire  session,  and  I  know  not 
how  much  longer,  than  they  were  for  it  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1776.  That  this  was  then  the  feeling  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  we  have  more  than  general  evidence. 
It  has  been  fashionable  among  historians  and  fourth 
of  July  orators  to  treat  of  Independence  as  if  it  had 
been  writh  our  Congress  a  foregone  conclusion,  and  a 
mere  question  of  policy  as  to  the  time  of  proclaiming 
it,  and  that  in  this  sentiment  the  whole  country  par- 
ticipated. There  is  no  more  gross  and  unfounded 
error.  Independently  of  the  danger  and  uncertainty 
of  the  issue  of  such  a  revolution,  the  feeling  of  loyalty 
to  the  King  and  attachment  to  the  mother  country 
was  warm  ;  and  though  blood  had  been  shed  and 
hostile  armies  had  been  levied  and  were  facing  each 
other  at  Boston,  the  expectation  and  desire  of  recon- 
ciliation was  ardently  entertained  in  Congress,  and  by 
many  citizens  who  a  year  later  became  the  most  de- 
voted adherents  of  independence  and  a  Republic. 
Let  us  look  into  the  Journal  of  Congress,  now  no 

o 

longer  secret,  but  then  wisely  kept  as  a  sealed  book 
from  public  view. 

On  the  8th  of  July,  1775,  a  Petition  to  the  King  was 
signed  by  every  member  of  Congress,  praying  for  re- 
dress of  grievances,  as  British  subjects,  in  the  hum- 
blest terms  ;  and  referring  to  the  accusation  which  had 
been  made  in  England,  that  they  desired  separation, 
they  declare,  "  We  have  not  raised  armies  with  the 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  63 

ambitious  design  of  separating  from  Great  Britain 
and  establishing  independent  States."  At  the  same 
time  an  address  of  like  import  was  drawn  up,  and 
signed,  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  a  species  of 
appeal  from  the  King  and  Parliament,  which  had 
been  made  on  more  than  one  occasion  already.  These 
documents,  containing  the  unanimous  expression  of 
denial  by  Congress  of  aspiring  to  independence,  were 
despatched  to  England  by  Richard  Penn — the  his- 
torian Bisset  calls  him  the  celebrated  Mr.  Penn — a 
grand-son  gf  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  himself  an 
ex-Governor,  and  a  brother  of  her  then  Chief  Magis- 
trate. (Ilildreth's  History,  vol.  3,  p.  87-88.)  Upon 
Peim's  arrival  in  England,  he  procured  the  Petition 
to  the  King  to  be  presented  through  Lord  Dartmouth, 
the  Colonial  Secretary,  who  informed  Penn  that  no 
answer  would  be  returned. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  1Y75,  Penn,  through 
the  agency  of  Lord  Dartmouth,  was  introduced  be- 
fore the  House  of  Lords,  and  examined  as  a  witness 
touching  affairs  in  America,  and  he  testified  to  a  pos- 
itive opinion  that  "  no  designs  of  independency  had 
been  formed  by  Congress  " — and,  says  Hildreth,  (p. 
112,)  "  as  he  had  been  lately  a  resident  of  Philadelphia, 
and  was  personally  acquainted  with  many  of  the  mem- 
bers, his  opinion  seemed  entitled  to  great  weight." 

Bisset  informs  us  that,  after  Penn's  examination, 
the  Duke  of  Richmond  moved  that  the  petition  from 
the  Continental  Congress  to  the  King  was  a  ground 
for  conciliation  of  the  unhappy  differences  subsisting 
between  Great  Britain  and  America,  and  argued  that 


64  ADDEESS   OF   WM.   A.   GRAHAM. 

the  Americans  wished  for  reconcilement,  and  desired 
no  concession  from  us  derogatory  to  the  honor  of  the 
mother  country.  But  the  motion  wa"s  lost  by  a  vote 
of  86  to  33 — upon  which  the  historian  expatiates  on 
the  folly  of  Lord  North  and  the  Ministry,  in  not  em- 
bracing the  overture  of  Congress,  and  saving  America 
to  Great  Britain. 

As  a  further  evidence  that  public  sentiment  in 
America  generally  was  still  on  the  side  of  adhesion  to 
Britain,  the  Colonial  Assemblies  of  three  States  sever- 
ally recommended  to  the  attention  of  Congress  at  this 
session,  Lord  North's  conciliatory  proposition,  and  it 
was  not  until  the  31st  July  that  a  committee,  to  whom 
it  was  referred,  reported  it  to  be  unsatisfactory. 

That  Mr.  Jefferson  had  not  yet  embraced  the  idea 
of  independence,  I  conceive  to  be  asserted  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  of  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  John 
Randolph,  dated  Aug.  25,  1775 — Jefferson's  Works, 
2d  edition,  vol  i.,  p.  151.  "  I  am  sincerely  one  of 
those.  I  would  rather  be  in  dependence  on  Great 
Britain,  properly  limited,  than  on  any  nation  on 
earth,  or  than  on  no  nation." 

General  Washington  made  it  no  secret  that  such 
were  his  sentiments.  In  Mr.  Irving's  Life  we  are 
treated  to  a  ludicrous  scene,  in  the  narrative,  that  in 
June  1775,  when  Washington  was  on  his  way  from 
Philadelphia  to  take  command  of  the  army  before 
Boston,  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
through  which  he  had  to  pass,  were  in  a  great  dilemma 
upon  the  question,  whether  they  should  compliment 
him  or  Gov.  Tryon,  then  their  Governor,  who  had 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  G5 

just  arrived  in  the  harbor  from  a  visit  to  England  ; 
and  that  the  perplexity  was  solved  by  ordering  out  a 
Regiment  of  militia  with  instructions  to  the  colonel 
to  pay  military  honors  to  whichever  of  these  function- 
aries should  first  arrive.  "Washington  happened  to  be 
prior  in  time — and  in  an  address  to  him  by  Mr. 
Livingston,  President  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of 
Xew  York,  it  was  said  :  "  We  have  the  fullest  assur- 
ance, that  whenever  this  important  contest  shall  be  de- 
cided, by  that  fondest  wish  of  each  American  soul, 
an  accommodation  with  our  mother  country,  you  will 
cheerfully  resign  the  important  deposit  committed  into 
your  hands  and  reassume  the  character  of  our  wor- 
thiest citizen." 

In  the  General's  reply  he  says :  "  We  shall  sincerely 
rejoice  with  you  in  that  happy  hour  when  the  estab- 
lishment of  American  liberty  on  the  most  firm  and 
solid  foundations,  shall  enable  us  to  return  to  our 
private  station  in  the  bosom  of  a  free,  peaceful  and 
happy  country."  A  most  earnest  aspiration  for 
reconcilement  in  the  address — and  not  the  most  dis- 
tant allusion  to  independence  in  the  reply ;  and  within 
eight  hours  afterwards,  Tryon  was  received  with  like 
military  honors  and  demonstrations  of  respect,  by  the 
city  authorities  and  the  royalist  inhabitants. 

Again,  in  February,  1776,  "Washington  writes  :  "  I 
am  entirely  of  your  opinion  that,  should  an  accom- 
modation take  place,  the  terms  will  be  severe  or 
favorable  in  proportion  to  our  ability  to  resist,  and 
that  we  ought  to  be  on  a  respectable  footing  to  receive 
their  armaments  in  the  spring."  Thus,  says  a  great 


66  ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

authority  in  history,  "  the  possibility  of  conciliation 
seems  here  taken  for  granted  ;  that  is,  independence 
was  not  then  the  idea  of  Washington,  five  months 
before  the  declaration." 

But  in  May,  1776,  we  have  his  own  emphatic 
words  :  "  A  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain  is  im- 
possible  When  I  took  command  of  the  army 

(June,  1775)  /  abhorred  the  idea  of  independence, 
but  I  am  now  fully  satisfied  that  nothing  else  will 
save  us." 

They  who  incline  to  trace  the  progress  of  opinion 
in  respect  to  independence,  will  iind  in  the  pages  of 
Hildreth  particulars  of  the  proceedings  in  Congress 
from  the  28th  of  June,  the  date  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  that. subject,  till  the  4th  of  July,  1776, 
and  subsequently,  tending  to  show  at  last, 

"  Quantce  molis  erat,  adfinem  condere  gentem." 

"  The  fact  seems  to  have  been,  (says  the  historical 
authority  before  referred  to,)  that  resistance  ripened 
gradually  and  insensibly  into  rebellion.  The  leaders 
had  incurred  the  penalties  of  treason,  before  they 
could  well  have  asked  themselves  to  what  lengths 
they  were  prepared  to  go — they  always  debated  with 
closed  doors,  so  that  what  were  their  exact  views  and 
the  progress  of  their  opinions  cannot  now  be  known." 
And  the  same  authority  states  i't  as  the  most  curious 
and  difficult  question  w^hich  the  whole  contest  affords, 
"  Whether  the  American  leaders  did  not  hurry  into 
positive  rebellion  before  they  had  sufficient  grounds 
to  suppose  they  could  resist  what  was  then  the  great- 
est empire  upon  earth." 


ADDKESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  67 

Dr.  Ramsay,  of  South  Carolina,  himself  a  member 
of  Congress,  in  his  history  of  the  United  States,  pub- 
lished no  long  time  after  the  war,  says,  "  the  affair  of 
Lexington  in  April,  1775,  exhibited  the  mother 
country  in  an  odious  point  of  view ;"  yet  he  thinks, 
"  for  twelve  months  after,  a  majority  wished  only  to 
be  re-established  as  subjects  of  Great  Britain  in  their 
ancient  rights." 

It  is  far  from  my  purpose  to  make  invidious  com- 
parisons, or  to  disparage  the  action  of  any  State  or 
individual,  much  less  to  insinuate  that  any  State  did 
not  perform  her  full  duty  in  maintaining  the  cause  of 
independence  after  it  was  made  a  national  measure. 
But  the  point  in  dispute  is,  who  first  proclaimed  inde- 
pendence ;  not  the  wisdom  or  prudence  of  the  step, 
but  its  priority  in  point  of  time  ?  And  the  objection 
that  the  records  of  Congress  made  no  mention  of  the 
early  action  of  Mecklenburg,  has  rendered  the  expo- 
sition of  the  state  of  opinion  in  that  body  in  regard 
to  Independence  in  May  or  June,  1775,  and  the  slow 
progress  of  its  conception  and  development  there, 
down  to  July,  1776,  an  indispen&ible  duty. 

It  now  appears,  since  the  Journals  of  Congress  have 
been  published  and  we  are  admitted  behind  the  scenes, 
that  when  the  Mecklenburg  messenger  arrived  in 
Philadelphia  in  June,  1775  (the  time  is  fixed  by  wit- 
nesses who  show  that  it  was  about  the  time  that 
Washington  set  out  to  take  command  of  the  army), 
that  Congress  was  not  at  all  in  accord  with  the  spirit 
of  the  people  by  whom  he  had  been  sent.  How  could 
that  august  assembly  give  countenance  to  a  declaration 


68  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GEAHAM. 

of  independence,  albeit  in  a  remote  region  of  the 
country,  when  their  thoughts  still  clung  to  reconcili- 
ation, and  every  member  was  about  to  set  his  hand  to 
a  petition  professing  loyalty  to  the  King,  love  for  the 
mother  country,  and  disclaiming,  as  an  unjust  impu- 
tation, the  "  ambitious  design"  of  independence,  which 
their  enemies  had  ascribed  to  them  2 

No  closed  doors  upon  a  deliberative  assembly  ever 
served  a  more  valuable  purpose,  than  those  of  the 
Continental  Congress  in  this  emergency  against  their 
most  confiding  friends.  The  message  was  doubtless 
most  unwelcome,  and  might  have  met  with  rebuke, 
but  that  war  was  already  begun  ;  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  the  spirit  of  the  people  up  to  the  fighting  point ; 
the  co-operation  of  all  would  probably  be  iieeded,  even 
in  a  war  such  as  wa"s  then  being  waged  for  the  rights 
of  British  subjects  in  America ;  and  it  would  not  do 
to  send  back  a  discouraging  reply  to  men  whose  con- 
duct implied  that  they  were  ready  for  the  most  des- 
perate conflict.  The  North  Carolina  delegation  in 
Congress  were  authorized  to  return  for  answer,  that 
Congress  admired  the  spirit  and  patriotism  of  the 
people,  but  deemed  their  action  premature.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  Congress,  .with  its  then  sentiments  and 
views  of  policy,  while  speaking  words  of  encourage- 
ment in  their  ears,  would  gladly  pass  over  the  affair 
in  a  manner  to  attract  to  it  as  little  of  public  attention 
as  possible.  It  was,  as  it  were,  afire  opened  upon  the 
enemy,  when  Congress  was  sending  out  a  flag  of 
truce  with  professions  of  fraternization.  And  if  the 
Mecklenburg  resolutions  were  not  published  in  the 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  69 

newspapers  of  the  time,  or  if  so  printed,  measures 
•were  taken  to  destroy  the  copies,  so  that  they  have 
not  come  down  to  us,  it  is  no  violent  presumption, 
that  such  measures  were  prompted  by  the  agency  of 
Congress  in  aid  of  the  policy  of  reconciliation  in  which 
that  body  was  then  so  earnestly  engaged.  Certainly  in 
the  mind  of  no  impartial  judge,  with  the  information 
now  open  to  us,  can  the  credit  of  the  testimony  in 
favor  of  the  authenticity  of  the  Mecklenburg  declara- 
tion suffer  any  impairment  from  the  failure  of  Con- 
gress to  leave  some  memorial  of  it. 

But  it  is  asked,  where  is  the  letter  or  message  re- 

• 

turned  by  the  delegates  in  Congress  ?  If  this  mes- 
sage were  in  writing,  and  the  chairman  or  clerk  of 
the  meeting  could  rise  from  the  grave,  he  probably 
could  answer.  But  the  whole  proceeding  was  that  of 
a  popular  assembly,  having  no  official  depository  of 
its  minutes.  If  there  was  such  a  paper,  and  it  did  not 
share  the  fate  of  the  original  declaration  in  being  con- 
sumed by  tire,  the  attention  of  those  to  whom  it  was 
addressed  was  too  earnestly  devoted  to  maintaining 
the  independence  they  had  proclaimed,  and  they 
passed  through  too  many  vicissitudes  of  war,  to  give 
heed  to  the  preservation  of  the  evidence  of  their 
deeds.  They  forthwith  established  a  surveillance 
over  the  neighboring  country,  arresting  disaffected 
persons,  and  sending  them  to  places  of  confinement 
beyond  the  sphere  of  their  influence,  and  organizing  a 
police  by  which  passports  were  required  as  to  the  sen- 
timents of  the  bearer  when  he  chanced  to  be  a 
stranger  in  the  neighborhood  where  he  was  found — 
(Jones's  Defence,  303). 


70  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

The  autumn  of  1775  found  these  men  of  Mecklen- 
burg, as  militia  under  their  leader,  Col.  Thomas  Polk, 
in  an  expedition  against  the  Scovilite  Tories,  in  north- 
western South  Carolina,  whom,  with  the  patriot  troops 
of  that  State,  they  assisted  to  disperse  and  subdue. 
With  but  a  brief  interval  from  this  service,  early  in 
February,  1776,  they  were  on  the  march  to  encounter 
the  Tory  forces  levied  on  the  Cape  Fear  and  Yadkin, 
under  McDonald  and  McLeod,  to  restore  Gov.  Mar- 
tin to  authority — a  call  from  which  they  were  relieved 
at  Cross  Creeks  (Fayetteville),  on  receiving  there  in- 
telligence of  the  decisive  victory  over'  the  enemy  at 
Moore's  Creek  by  Caswell  and  Lillington. 

The  writer  has  a  manuscript  journal  of  this  expedi- 
tion, by  Dr.  John  Graham,  a  volunteer  with  19 
others,  all  then  students  of  Queen's  Museum,  under 
Ephraim  Brevard,  their  tutor,  as  captain,  in  Col.  Thos. 
Folk's  Regiment. 

Again,  ere  the  summer  had  opened,  they  are  seen 
under  Rutherford,  scaling  our  western  mountains  into 
Tennessee,  and  chastising  and  subduing  the  Cherokee 
Indians,  who,  under  British  influence,  had  commenced 
murdering  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontiers — thus 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  three  diverse  military  ex- 
peditions made  by  the  militia  of  the  State,  besides 
furnishing  contingents  to  the  Continental  troops  of 
North  Carolina,  under  Moore  and  Nash,  for  the  de- 
fence of  Charleston  against  Sir  Peter  Parker's  attack 
in  June,  1776, — all  anterior  to  the  national  declara- 
tion of  independence  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776.  These 
glimpses  of  contemporaneous  events  are  necessary  to 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  71 

be   taken,  in   order   to   comprehend   and  apply  the 
evidence  touching  the  point  in  dispute, 

It  may  be  appropriate  here  also  to  call  to  mind  :  1. 
That  the  first  Provincial  Congress  of  North  Carolina, 
called  to  consider  grievances  alleged  against  the 
mother  countiy,  convened  at  Newborn  on  the  25th 
of  August,  1774,  the  same  day  being  that  for  the 
meeting  of  the  colonial  assembly,  and  elected  Caswell, 
Hooper,  and  Hewes,  delegates  to  the  first  Continental 
Congress. 

2.  That  the  second  Provincial  Congress  met  at  the 
same  place  on  the  4th  of  April,  1775,  the  day  of  the 
meeting  of  the  colonial  assembly  ;  and  the  latter  body 
being  rebuked  by  Governor  Martin  for  insubordina- 
tion, especially  in  approving  the  ^reappointment   of 
delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress,  made  a  spirited 
reply  in  maintenance  of  their  rights,  for  which,  after  a 
session  of  five  days,  they  were  dissolved  by  the  proc- 
lamation of  the  Governor,  and  no  legislative  assem- 
bly under  the  crown  ever  again  convened  in  the  State. 

3.  The  Governor  himself   within   a  brief    period 
became  a  fugitive  on  board  the  Cruiser  in  Cape  Fear 
river,  and  never  afterwards  exercised  any  of  the  ex- 
ecutive powers,  except  in  the  issuance  of  proclama- 
tions from  his  places  of  retreat. 

4.  The  law  for  the  establishment  of  superior  courts 
of  justice  having  expired  by  limitation,  and  the  Legis- 
lature and  Governor,  by  reason  of  disagreement  on  a 
clause  subjecting  the   lands  of  debtors  residing  in 
England  to  process  of  attachment,  failed  to  re-enact? 
any  statute  on  this  head,  so  that  from  1774  to  1777, 


72  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

no  Superior  Courts  were  held  in  the  Province,  and  the 
office  of  a  Royal  Judge  was  a  sinecure.  Thus,  by  ab- 
dication, as  it  were,  English  authority,  in  every  depart- 
ment of  Government,  ceased  in  the  Province,  from, 
say,  May  1775  :  and  the  Provincial  Congress  assumed 
and  held  every  function,  Legislative,  Executive  and 
Judicial,  except  in  the  very  limited  jurisdiction  of  the 
Inferior  Courts,  held  by  justices  of  the  peace.*  There 
was  therefore  everything  in  the  situation  to  invite  re- 
volution as  a  refuge  from  anarchy. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  letter 
before  quoted,  denied  knowledge  of  any  resolutions 
of  the  description  alleged,  from  Mecklenburg,  and 
appealing  to  Mr.  Adams,  continues :  "  Armed  with 
"this  bold  example,  would  you  not  have  addressed 
"our  timid  brethren  in  peals  of  thunder  on  their 
"tardy  fears?  Would  not  every  advocate  of  inde- 
"  pendence  have  rung  the  glories  of  Mecklenburg 
county  in  ISTorth  Carolina  ? "  etc.  And  it  appears,  since 
the  publication  of  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Adams, 
that  although  crediting  its  authority  at  first,  he  sub- 
sequently expressed  his  disbelief.  In  transmitting 
the  paper  to  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  22d  of  June,  1819, 
he  says  :  "  Had  it  been  communicated  to  me  in  the  time 
"  of  it,  I  know  if  you  do  not  know  that  it  would  have 
"  been  printed  in  every  Whig  newspaper  upon  the 
'*  continent.  You  know  that  if  I  had  possessed  it,  1 
"  would  have  made  the  halls  of  Congress  echo  and  re- 


*  Jones's    Defence,    and   McRee's   Life   of  Iredell.      Martin, 
vol.  2. 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  73 

"  echo  with  it,  fifteen  months  before  your  declaration 
"of  independence.  What  a  poor,  ignorant, malicious, 
"and  short-sighted,  crapulous  mass  is  Tom  Paine's 
"  Common  Sense,  in  comparison  Avith  this  paper. 
"Had  I  known  it,  I  would  have  commented  upon  it 
"  from  the  day  you  entered  Congress  till  the  4th  of 
"  July,  1776." 

The  whirl  of  events  in  a  revolution,  independently 
of  the  access  of  age,  is  well  calculated  to  confuse  and 
impair  the  memory.  And  without  detracting  from  the 
reverence  due  to  either  of  these  venerable  ex-Presi- 
dents, it  is  manifest  that  the  memory  of  both  was 
sadly  at  fault  as  to  the  views  of  Congress,  and  in  re- 
gard to  their  own  individual  sentiments,  at  least  in  all 
the  year  1775,  and  how  much  later  is  unknown.  Their 
letters  both  imply  that  they  were  eager  for  independ- 
ence as  early  as  the  date  of  this  paper,  and  were  de- 
layed by  the  doubts  and  fears  of  others  ;  whereas,  at 
the  very  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  messenger  from 
Mecklenburg,  the  Congress  was,  no  doubt,  employed 
in  the  preparation  of  a  petition  to  the  King  for  re- 
dress of  grievances,  disclaiming  any  design  of  inde- 
pendence, which  was  signed  by  these  two,  with  all 
the  other  members,  on  the  8th  of  July,  1775.  While 
the  whole  mind  and  heart  of  Congress  (so  far  as  we 
have  any  means  of  judging)  were  intent  on  reconcil- 
iation, the  agitation  of  independence  from  a  single 
county  on  the  continent  would  not  have  called  forth 
the  appeals  in  tones  of  thunder  imagined.  On  the 
contrary,  it  would  have  been  regarded,  at  most,  as  an 
inopportune  and  embarrassing  demonstration,  which 


74  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

it  was  most -hazard  ous  and  inconsistent  to  encourage, 
and  yet  not  expedient  to  rebuke.  The  emergency, 
therefore,  required  politic  treatment,  and  would  have 
sent  out  from  the  closed  doors  of  Congress,  or  the 
chambers  of  the  delegates  from  the  State,  just  such 
an  answer  as  that  borne  by  Capt.  Jack,  to  wit :  that 
Congress  admired  the  patriotism  and  courage  of  the 
people,  but  the  step  was  as  yet  premature. 

Moreover,  it  is  now  conceded,  nay  insisted  upon  by 
our  critics,  that- Mecklenburg  did  pass  resolutions  in 
this  month  of  May,  1775,  (the  31st)  far  transcending 
in  revolutionary  purpose  those  of  Mr.  Henry  in  the 
colonial  assembly  of  Virginia  ;  yet  neither  Mr.  Adams 
nor  Mr.  Jefferson  remembered  to  have  heard  of  them. 
But  nevertheless,  such  resolutions  there  were.  They 
were  caught  up  by  the  Royal  Governors  of  other  colo- 
nies than  North  Carolina,  and  transmitted  to  the  Brit- 
ish ministry.  * 

Gov.  Martin,  on  the  30th  of  June,  also  sent  de- 
spatches to  the  Colonial  Secretary,  with  the  denuncia- 
tion that  "  The  resolves  of  the  Committee  of  Mecklen- 
burg, which  your  Lordship  will  find  in  the  inclosed 
newspaper,  surpass  all  the  horrid  and  treasonable  pub- 
lications the  inflammatory  spirits  of  this  Continent 
have  yet  produced ;  and  your  Lordship  may  depend 
its  authors  and  abettors  will  not  escape  my  notice, 
whenever  my  hands  are  sufficiently  strengthened  to 
attempt  the  recovery  of  the  lost  authority  of  Govern- 
ment. A  copy  of  these  resolves,  I  am  informed,  was 

*  Gov.  Wright  of  Ga.     Wheeler,  254. 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  75 

sent  off  to  the  Congress  at  Philadelphia  as  soon  as 
they  were  passed  in  the  committee."*  Not  content 
with  this,  the  Governor,  on  the  8th  of  August,  on 
board  the  Cruiser,  issued  a  Proclamation,  reciting  that 
"  Whereas,  I  have  seen  a  most  infamous  publication 
in  the  Cape  Fear  Mercury,  importing  to  be  resolves 
of  a  set  of  people  styling  themselves  a  Committee  of 
the  County  of  Mecklenburg,  most  traitorously  declar- 
ing the  entire  dissolution  of  laws,  Government,  and 
Constitution  of  this  country,  and  setting  up  a  system 
of  rule  and  regulation  repugnant  to  the  laws,  and  sub- 
versive of  His  Majesty's  Government,"  etc.  The 
resolves,  though  thus  publicly  denounced,  and  though 
published  at  the  time  in  the  papers  of  South  Caro- 
lina, New  York,  and  Massachusetts,  and  sent  to  Con- 
gress, were  never  heard  of  or  if  heard  of  totally  for- 
gotten by  its  two  eminent  members,  whose  correspon- 
dence we  have  before  us.  If  either  of  them  was  so 
intent  at  that  time  on  independence  as  their  letters 
in  1819  would  indicate,  the  resolves  of  the  31st  of 
May,  declaring  that  "  all  Commissions  civil  and  mil- 
itary heretofore  granted  by  the  Crown  to  be  exercised 
in  these  Colonies,  are  null  and  void,  and  that  whatev- 
er person  should  receive  an  office  from  the  Crown  in 
future,  should  be  deemed  an  enemy  of  his  country," 
etc.,  would  have  furnished  ample  material  for  that 
eloquence  which  it  seems  was  but  waiting  on  popu- 
lar demonstrations  for  independence.  Of  these,  at 
least,  they  must  have  had  knowledge  in  June,  1775, 

*  Wheeler,  257. 


76  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GEAHAM. 

according  to  all  reasonable  probability,  as  well  as  the 
instructions  of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  North  Car- 
olina to  her  Continental  delegates,  to  unite  in  voting 
for  independence,  in  advance  of  the  other  Colonies, 
April  12th,  1776  ;  but  no  allusion  is  made  to  either  of 
these  daring  measures  to  which  the  correspondence 
naturally  led ;  and  both  of  the  writers  seem  to  have 
passed  from  the  stage  of  human  existence,  in  perfect 
obliviousness  that  either  Mecklenburg  or  North  Caro- 
lina had  taken  any  advanced  position  in  favor  of 
throwing  off  British  authority. 

Now,  upon  every  principle  of  evidence,  upon  the 
ground  that  a  \vitness  who  makes  positive  affirmation 
of  an  event  is  to  be  credited  in  preference  to  one  who 
does  not  remember  it,  that  forty-five  years  added  to 
the  lives  of  men,  the  one  forty  and  the  other  thirty- 
three  (the  ages  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson),  will 
more  tend  to  impair  their  recollections  than  the  same 
term  added  to  those  of  youths  and  men  from  fifteen 
to  twenty-five  (the  ages  of  the  Mecklenburg  witnesses 
with  two  exceptions),  as  well  as  upon  the  documentary 
proof  of  the  despatches  and  Proclamation  aforesaid, 
we  claim  it  as  established,  that  resolutions  were 
adopted  at  Charlotte  in  Mecklenburg,  in  May,  1775, 
declaring  "  the  entire  dissolution  of  the  laws,  Govern- 
ment and  Constitution  of  Great  Britain,"  which  had 
theretofore  obtained,  and  that  a  copy  of  these  pro- 
ceedings was  transmitted  to  Philadelphia  by  a  special 
messenger,  and  delivered  to  the  delegation  of  North 
Carolina  in  the  Continental  Congress ;  and  that  in 
return  an  approving  message  was  received  by  the 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.   GRAHAM.  77 

same  messenger,  but  with  the  admonition  that  the 
movement  was  too  early.  And  if  in  history,  as  in 
law,  it  is  sufficient  to  prove  the  substance  of  the  issue, 
our  position  is  established.  In  professional  phrase 
we  have  prevailed  on  the  general  issue — the  only  issue 
originally  made. 

But  a  new  ground  is  more  recently  assumed,  that 
conceding  the  affirmation  to  be  true,  there  is  error  in 
the  day  of  the  month  on  which  the  alleged  meeting 
was  held,  and  in  the  import  of  the  resolutions,  for 
that  it  was  not  the  20th  but  the  31st  of  May ;  and 
that  the  resolutions  adopted,  though  very  spirited  and 
defiant,  did  not  import  permanent  separation  from 
Great  Britain.  The  day  is  not  at  all  material,  in  so 
small  a  difference  in  the  dates  ;  and  we  are  thankful 
to  the  last  learned  critic  in  the  North  American 
Review,  that  "  the  people  of  Mecklenburg  were  the 
first  to  cut  the  '  Gordian  knot,'  of  the  political  situa- 
tion by  their  incisive  declaration  made  on  the  31st  of 
May,  1775."  If  this  were  all  that  had  been  done,  it 
would  be  an  event  worthy  of  commemoration  to  re- 
mote ages.  But  we  contend  that  the  resolutions 
adopted  were  resolutions  of  independence.  The  word 
implies  so  grand  and  stupendous  an  idea  to  the  sub- 
jects of  a  monarchy,  that  there  is  little  liability  to 
mistake  it  for  anything  else,  on  the  part  of  a  witness 
of  ordinary  intelligence.  Governor  Martin  unques- 
tionably so  understood  them — "  Most  traitorously 
declaring  the  dissolution  of  the  laws,  Government 
and  Constitution,  and  setting  up  a  system  of  rule  and 
regulation,  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  subversive  of 


78  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GEAHAM. 

His  Majesty's  Government,"  the  words  of  which  he 
made  use,  are  satisfied  by  no  other  meaning  than  that 
of  independence.  Such  is  the  concurrent  recollection 
of  every  witness  at  the  scene,  of  every  one  who  was 
heard  to  speak  of  it  afterwards,  among  the  then 
inhabitants  of  that  country.  And  no  one,  we  appre- 
hend, even  at  a  remote  period,  could  probably  mis- 
take the  four  or  five  resolutions  of  the  20th,  for  the 
series  of  twenty  on  the  31st,  arranging  details  in  mat- 
ters civil  and  military.  Such  is  the  evidence  of  tradi- 
tion, and  of  those  who  desired  to  have  it  kept  in  re- 
membrance. 

But  why  were  not  the  resolutions  of  the  20th  print- 
ed in  the  gazettes?  The  Cape  Fear  Mercury,  in 
which  were  seen  the  resolutions  denounced  with  such 
severity  by  Governor  Martin,  and  referred  to  in  his 
despatch,  as  transmitted  with  it,  the  only  North  Car- 
olina paper  in  which  we  are  informed  of  any  such 
publication,  was  lost  from  the  British  Colonial  Office 
before  Mr.  Sparks  made  his  researches  therein — and 
Mr.  Wheeler  states  that  he  found  a  memorandum 
upon  his  visit  there  in  1858,  or  thereabout,  informing 
that  it  had  been  lost  from  the  files  since  1837.  What 
series  of  resolutions  it  contained  is  therefore  unknown. 
But  if  they  were  the  series  of  the  31st  of  May,  and 
those  of  the  20th  were  not  published  by  printing  till 
1819,  is  it  not  manifest  that  their  publication  shortly 
after  their  date  would  have  thwarted  the  unanimous 
policy  of  Congress,  flying  as  they  did  in  the  very 
teeth  of  its  professions  of  loyalty  and  desire  for  re- 
conciliation ?  And  is  it  any  violent  presumption 


ADDRESS  OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  79 

that  the  non-publication,  if  none  was  made,  was  oc- 
casioned by  the  advice  and  influence  of  that  body  ? 

Very  serious  question  is  also  made  as  to  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  copy  of  the  resolutions,  the  original 
having  been  destroyed  as  is  alleged  by  the  conflagra- 
tion of  a  building  in  the  year  1800 — and  Judge  Mar- 
tin in  his  history  of  North  Carolina  having  published  a 
series  not  identical  with  the  copy  published  by  the  legis- 
lature— (See  Appendix  for  copy.)  The  difference  be- 
tween the  two  is  not  a  matter  of  substance — both  de- 
clare independence.  And  I  esteem  the  production  of  a 
separate  and  slightly  varied  copy  by  Martin  as  corrobo- 
ration  rather  than  impeachment  of  the  verity  of  the 
transaction  ;  especially  when  coupled  with  the  state- 
ment of  Dr.  Hawks,  that  he  had  conversed  with 
Judge  Martin  on  this  subject  when  both  were  resid- 
ing in  New  Orleans,  and  learned  from  him  that  he 
had  obtained  his  copy  in  manuscript  from  the  West- 
ern part  of  North  Carolina,  before  the  year  1800. 
But  the  integrity  of  the  copy  mainly  depends  upon 
the  testimony  of  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  and  that 
of  the  witnesses  sustaining  him.  His  account  was, 
that  as  Secretary,  he  had  preserved  the  record  of  it, 
from  the  time  of  adoption  till  it  was  destroyed  with 
his  dwelling  by  fire  in  1800 ;  that  he  had  furnished 
a  copy  to  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  who  had  undertaken 
to  write  a  history  of  the  State,  in  order  that  the  dec- 
laration might  be  noticed  in  that  work — that  he  fur- 
nished another  copy  to  Gen.  Davie.  Williamson  did 
publish  a  History  of  North  Carolina  in  1812,  and  in 
his  preface  asserts  that  he  "had  received  muchinfor- 


80  ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.   GRAHAM. 

ination  from  some  of  the  most  ancient  and  respectable 
citizens  of  the  State,  who  continue  to  serve  the  country, 
and  from  others  who  had  lately  been  numbered  with 
the  great  majority."  He  says  further  that  he  con- 
templated to  bring  the  history  of  the  State  down  to 
1790,  but  declined  from  the  arduousness  of  the  task 
and  confined  his  work  to  Colonial  history  prior  to 
1771.* 

~Now  Alexander  is  corroborated  in  the  foregoing 
statement,  as  we  have  seen  :  1st,  by  the  evidence  of 
Gov.  Stokes,  who  testified  that  Dr.  Williamson  had 
exhibited  to  him  a  copy  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  in  the  handwriting  of  John  Mc- 
Knitt  Alexander,  in  1793.  2d,  by  the  testimony  of 
Judge  Cameron  to  Dr.  Foote,  that  Alexander  had  in 
formed  him  of  such  a  declaration  in  1800,  and  that 
copies  had  been  delivered  to  Dr.  Williamson  and  Gen. 
Davie.  3d,  by  the  testimony  of  D.  G.  Stinson,  Esq., 
as  already  rehearsed.  4th,  by  the  testimony  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Henderson  as  to  the  finding  of  the  copy  in 
Alexander's  handwriting  in  the  mansion  of  Gen. 
Davie  after  the  General's  death.  5th,  by  his  char- 
acter, public  and  private.  He  seems  to  have  made 

*  Mr.  Jefferson  in  his  letter  asserts,  that  Dr.  Williamson  "  in 
the  history  he  has  written  of  North  Carolina  did  not  recollect 
this  gigantic  step  of  its  county  of  Mecklenburg."  Williamson 
himself  informs  us  in  his  preface  that  he  had  collected  much 
historical  matter  with  a  view  to  continue  his  history  to  1790  ; 
but  as  his  narrative  stops  with  1771,  we  do  not  know  what  he 
would  have  written  of  events  of  1775.  We  have  shown,  it  is 
submitted,  convincingly,  that  he  had  a  copy  of  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration  in  his  possession  in  1793. 


ADDKESS   OF  WM.    A.   GRAHAM.  81 

continual  claim  to  this  transaction  for  the  people  of 
Mecklenburg :  was  solicitous  to  see  it  incorporated 
into  history,  at  least  as  early  as  1793  and  1800 — ex- 
pected to  see  it  in  Williamson's  promised  work,  or  in 
some  other,  to  which  Davie  from  his  eminence  in  en- 
acting history  might  be  called  on  to  contribute ;  and 
of  course,  as  we  infer,  to  make  satisfactory  proof  of  it, 
if  called  in  question  in  his  day,  which,  according  to 
Wheeler,  lasted  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  after 
1793.  There  was  an  ingenuousness  and  confidence  in 
the  assertion  of  this  claim  on  his  part,  while  it  could 
have  been  readily  settled  by  living  witnesses,  which 
indicate  no  dread  of  controversy  as  to  its  rightful  ness, 
if  any  had  then  arisen,  and -which  well  comports  with 
the  character  of  an  actor  in  the  transaction  itself. 

But  it  is  contended  that  the  resolutions  of  the  31st 
of  May  are  so  incompatible  with  those  alleged  to  have 
been  passed  on  the  20th,  that  they  negative  the  adop- 
tion of  the  last-mentioned  altogether  ;  and  this,  in  my 
conception,  is  the  only  plausible  argument  adduced 
against  our  position.  The  resolutions  of  the  31st  fol- 
low very  well  as  an  appropriate  sequence  to  those  of 
the  20th,  in  everything  except  in  a  single  particular. 
It  was  natural,  that  after  having  annulled  and  thrown 
off  the  British  authority  and  dominion  in  a  public 
meeting  in  the  presence  of,  and  with  shouts  of  ap- 
probation from  the  multitude,  inflamed  by  the  intel- 
ligence just  received  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  that 
the  Committee  should  hold  a  subsequent  meeting  to 
establish  a  system  of  government  adequate  to  the  ex- 
igency of  the  crisis.  This  was  the  more  necessary 


82.  ADDEESS   OF   WM.    A.    GHAHAM. 

since  by  their  resolutions  of  the  20th,  "  all,  each  and 
every  military  officer  was  reinstated  in  his  former 
command  and  authority,  he  acting  conformably  to 
these  regulations,  and  every  member  of  the  Com- 
mittee was  made  a  civil  officer,  namely,  a  justice  of 
the  peace  in  the  character  of  a  committee  man  ; " 
while  upon  the  popular  principle  which  governed 
their  proceedings,  it  should  have  been,  and  no  doubt 
was,  more  satisfactory,  to  choose  all  these  officers  by 
popular  election.  Accordingly  we  find  that  on  the 
31st,  provision  was  made  for  a  new  organization  of 
the  military  into  companies,  "  and  for  the  choice  of  a 
Colonel  and  other  officers  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
county,  and  for  the  choosing  in  like  manner  of  two 
discreet  freeholders  from  each  company  with  the  juris- 
diction of  justices  of  the  peace,  with  sundry  other  wise 
regulations,  for  the  administration  of  justice,  the  pre- 
servation of  the  peace,  the  suppression  of  disloyalty  to 
the  new  governing  power  by  adherence  to  Britain, 
and  in  preparation  for  war. 

But  the  18th  resolution,  in  the  series  of  twenty,  is 
as  follows :  "  That  these  resolves  be  in  full  force  and 
virtue  until  instructions  from  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress regulating  the  jurisprudence  of  the  Province 
shall  provide  otherwise,  or  until  the  Legislative  body 
of  Great  Britain  resign  its  unjust  and  arbitrary  pre- 
tensions with  respect  to  America"  These  last  words 
constitute  the  only  seeming  inconsistency  between 
the  two  sets  of  resolutions.  They  present  a  thread  of 
apparent  connection  with  British  authority  in  a  re- 
mote contingency,  to  which  our  opponents  point,  as 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  83 

proof  that  there  was  no  dissolution  on  the  20th,  and 
as  if  the  previous  resolutions  of  the  same  series  had 
not  rendered  reconcilement  to  that  authority  impos- 
sible. 

As  has  been  already  remarked,  we  have  no  tradi- 
tions of  the  resolutions  of  the  31st,  and  know  noth- 
ing of  them  except  as  they  appear  in  contemporary 
newspapers,  discovered  at  a  comparatively  recent 
date  ;  and  though  Tory  papers,  transmitted  by  Royal 
Governors,  we  assume  the  copies  to  be  correct.  We 
are  left,  therefore,  very  much  to  conjecture  in  the 
solution  of  the  question  how  these  words  became  in- 
corporated in  the  resolutions  of  a  Committee  which 
had  already  pronounced  for  independence.  The 
most  probable  one  which  occurs  to  us,  is,  that  when 
the  Committee  came  to  more  deliberate  consideration 
than  was  practicable  in  the  excitement  of  the  20th, 
under  the  influence  of  the  news  that  blood  had  al- 
ready begun  to  flow,  and  to  frame  regulations  under 
which  every  man  was  required  to  array  himself 
against  the  dominion  of  England  at  the  hazard  of  be- 
ing seized  as  a  prisoner,  it  was  deemed  humane  as 
well  as  politic  towards  the  doubtful  or  disaffected,  to 
leave  them  the  hope  that  the  regulations  to  which 
they  were  required  to  conform  might  be  terminated 
by  the  abandonment  of  its  oppressive  policy  by  the 
British  Parliament.  These  regulations  are  essential- 
ly municipal  laws,  in  which  the  lawgiver  might  well 
prescribe  conditions  to  those  over  whom  he  exercised 
jurisdiction,  which  he  would  not  observe  towards  an 
alien  Government. 


84  ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

It  is  certain  this  limitation  could  not  have  been 
designed  as  a  loop-hole  for  future  retreat  from  the  po- 
sition of  independence  which  had  been  assumed.  On 
the  contrary,  the  requirement  that  "  The  Legislative 
body  of  Great  Britain  resign  its  unjust  and  arbitrary 
pretensions  with  respect  to  America,"  renders  this 
resolution  more  provokingly  offensive  to  British 
authority  than  if  that  clause  had  been  omitted  alto- 
gether. To  that  authority  it  was  a  defiance,  with 
epithets  of  opprobrium,  while  to  the  wavering,  irres- 
olute, or  loyalist  citizen,  it  may  have  afforded  a  dis- 
tant expectation  of  reconcilement.  However  this 
may  be,  the  verbal  and  circumstantial  evidence  of  in- 
dependence, is  too  powerful  to  be  overcome  by  the 
unexplained  passage  in  one  of  the  resolutions  of  the 
31st  of  May. 

There  are  some  of  us  who  can  look  back  through 
many,  years  of  recollection,  and,  if  blessed  with  ordi- 
nary faculties,  can  test  the  capacity  and  extent  of  hu- 
man memory  in  retaining  a  knowledge  of  facts  and 
.  events.  Fifty  years  carries  us  back  to  1825,  the  year 
of  the  election  of  John  Quincy  Adams  to  the  Presi- 
dency, by  the  House  of  Representatives,  over  Jackson 
and  Crawford,  and  of  the  visit  of  Gen.  Lafayette  to 
this  country  and  his  reception  in  lialeigh.  While 
forty-five  years  transports  us  to  the  second  year  of  Jack- 
son's administration,  the  great  debate  between  Hayne 
and  Webster,  the  incipiency  of  nullification,  and  a 
year  or  two  later  to  the  agitation  of  that  question  in 
the  State  Legislature  and  in  popular  assemblies. 
Who,  between  the  ages  of  60  and  75  does  not  remem- 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  85 

ber  at  least  this  latter  period,  the  public  meetings  and 
discussions,  and  the  parts  taken  by  the  several  public 
men  then  upon  the  stage  ?  Yet  none  of  these  equalled 
in  magnitude,  or  were  so  adapted  deeply  to  impress 
the  memory,  as  the  determination  of  the  people  of  a 
colony  to  dissolve  its  connection  with  the  parent 
kingdom,  and  incur  the  hazards  of  treason  and  of 
war. 

There  are  two  most  striking  points  of  difference  be- 
tween the  resolutions  of  the  20th  and  those  of  the 
31st.  The  first  breathe  the  spirit  of  a  popular  assem- 
bly, by  which  we  are  informed  the  committee  was 
surrounded,  just  possessed  of  the  news  of  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  which  is  denounced  in  one  of  the  reso- 
lutions as  the  "  inhuman  shedding  of  American  blood 
at  Lexington,"  are  impassioned  in  tone,  and  declara- 
tive merely  of  position  and  principles.  The  latter  are 
business-like,  considerate  and  minute,  providing  for 
the  necessities  of  a  civilized  community  which  had 
cast  off  its  former  organism.  They  make  no  reference 
to  the  battle  of  Lexington,  the  startling  event  of  the 
times,  which  no  public  assembly  would  have  failed  to 
notice  in  the  existing  state  of  public  feeling,  unless 
they  had  given  expression  to  their  indignation  al- 
ready. For  aught  that  is  knowrn,  or  apparent  in  them, 
they  may  be  the  offspring  of  a  session  of  the  Com- 
mittee held  in  Dr.  Brevard's  private  office,  and  there 
being  no  printing  press  at  hand,  were  promulged 
among  the  people  by  sending  out  copies,  some  of 
which  were  procured  by  spies  and  forwarded  to  the 
royalist  paper  of  Wells  in  Charleston,  and  to  Governor 


86  ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

Wright  in  Georgia,  by  whom  they  were  so  speedily 
posted  off  to  London.  We  can  therefore  say  with 
confidence,  that  of  the  resolutions  of  the  31st  we  have 
no  information  except  as  they  are  printed  with  the 
signature  of  a  clerk  in  a  contemporary  paper;  while 
as  to  those  of  the  20th  we  have  a  detailed  account 
from  witnesses  of  character,  of  capacity  to  understand 
the  transaction,  as  our  intercourse  with  them  and  our 
own  experience  abundantly  prove,  with  the  best  op- 
portunities for  observation  ;  and  confirmed  in  their 
recollection  by  a  life-long  conversancy  with  the  actors 
in  the  scene,  among  whom  it  was  doubtless  a  topic  of 
not  infrequent  conversation,  with  the  other  incidents 
of  the  revolution,  in  their  camps  and  marches,  court- 
yards, public  assemblages,  and  at  their  hospitable  fire- 
sides. 

The  learned  have  a  theory,  that  upon  presenting  to 
a  naturalist  a  bone  of  one  of  the  extremities  of  an 
animal,  he  can  thence  infer  the  structure,  form,  and 
habits  of  the  animal,  and  whether  he  subsists  on  flesh 
or  grass.  This,  in  the  absence  of  more  convincing  in- 
formation, may  answer  very  well.  But  to  the  practi- 
cal common  mind,  the  description  of  a  witness  who 
had  seen  the  beast,  clothed  in  his  skin,  pasturing  in 
the  fields  or  roaming  the  forest,  would  be  more  satis- 
factory than  the  opinion  on  these  points  of  Cuvier 
himself.  The  political  or  literary  philosophers  who 
undertake  to  tell  us  what  Mecklenburg  should  have 
done,  or  abstained  from  doing,  on  the  20th  of  May,  by 
inference  froin«the  fragment  of  a  resolution  passed  on 
the  31st,  must  excuse  us  for  preferring  the  account 


ADDRESS    OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  87 

of  veritable  witnesses,  who  testify  what  she  did  do.  1 
regret  to  understand  that  the  manuscript  of  that  copy 
of  the  resolutions  of  the  20th  of  May,  known  as  the 
Davie  paper,  cannot,  be  found.  I  remember  to  have 
seen  it  in  the  Executive  office  at  Raleigh,  in  1845, 
considerably  soiled,  probably  from  having  passed 
through  the  hands  of  the  printers  of  1831.  I  do  not 
recollect  to  have  read  it,  having  often  seen  the  copies 
in  print,  and  am  sure  that  my  attention  was  not  at- 
tracted to  any  certificate  to  the  effect  that  the  copy 
was  made  from  memory  by  John  Mclvnitt  Alexander, 
as  is  alleged  in  the  recent  article  on  this  topic  in  the 
North  American  Review — a  circumstance  implying  an 
imputation  at  least  of  negligence  on  the  part  of  the 
Committee,  by  whom  the  publication  of  1830-'31  was 
made,  not  at  all  consistent  with  the  characters  of  the 
gentlemen  composing  it.  If  it  were  so,  however,  it 
probably  accounts  for  the  discrepancy  between  the 
Davie  and  Martin  copies,  in  both  of  which  the  battle 
of  Lexington  is  referred  to,  and  in  both  of  which  in- 
dependence is  declared.  ISTo  one  in  an  attempt  to  re- 
produce the  series  of  twenty  resolutions  of  the  31st, 
could  ever  have  brought  forth  those  four  or  five  de- 
posited with  either  Davie  or  Martin  ;  while  the  two 
latter  are  very  nearly  identical  with  each  other.  And 
in  the  absence  of  the  copy  furnished  to  Williamson,  it 
may  be  that  that  of  Martin,  which  we  have  seen  was 
obtained  before  the  year  1800,  is  the  more  accurate. 
But  either  is  sufficient  to  establish  the  great  fact  of  the 
declaration  of  independence  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775, 
under  the  circumstances  detailed  in  the  oral  evidence. 


00  ADDKESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

The  coincidence  of  certain  language  in  these  reso- 
lutions, with  that  employed  in  the  national  declara- 
tion of  independence  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  from 
which  it  is  insisted  that  they  are  of  subsequent  ori- 
gin, is,  when  properly  considered,  an  argument  of  little 
weight.  And  here  let  me  remark  that  the  fame  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  as  one  of  the  very  first  of  American 
writers,  will  not  suffer  diminution  even  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  fact,  that  in  the  national  document  lie 
used  language  and  expressions  which  had  been  before 
employed  to  express  like  sentiments  in  this  and  other 
countries — even  with  the  knowledge  that  they  had 
been  so  employed.  In  the  phrase  of  Governor  Stokes, 
in  the  pamphlet  already  mentioned,  it  was  but  the 
expression  of  the  common  feeling,  and  was  the  com- 
mon language  of  the  country  at  that  eventful  period. 
The  learned  writer  of  the  article  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can Review  brings  forward  the  fact,  that  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  in  his  resolutions  of  the  7th  of  June, 
1776,  had  employed  the  words,  "That  these  united 
colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  he,  free  and  in- 
dependent States  /  that  they  are  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  British  Crown  •  and  that  all  politi- 
cal connection  between  them  and  the  State  of  Great 
Britain  is,  and  of  right  ought  to  he,  dissolved"  Yet 
nothing  improper  can  be  imputed  upon  finding  that 
these  expressions  are  adopted  into  the  national  de- 
claration ;  and  as  little,  we  presume,  in  discovering 
in  the  concluding  sentence  the  pledge  of  "lives,  for- 
tunes," etc.,  all  of  which,  in  substance,  we  maintain 
had  been  previously  used  in  the  Mecklenburg  resolu- 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  89 

tions.  Whether  this  prior  use  had  ever  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  writer  of  the  national  declaration 
or  not,  is  wholly  immaterial.  No  nation  or  people 
ever  went  to  war  without  in  fact  staking  up  their 
lives  and  fortunes  and  honor,  and  it  requires  no  ex- 
traordinary rhetorical  skill  to  give  expression  to  the 
idea.  Without  going  out  of  our  way  in  the  search 
for  examples,  we  accidentally  find  that  Gibbon,  vol. 
1,  p.  416,  speaks  of  Constantino  as  a  popular  leader, 
to  whose  service,  from  a  principle  of  conscience,  the 
early  Christians  had  devoted  their  "  lives  and  for- 
tunes." In  Martin's  History  of  North  Carolina  it  is 
mentioned,  that  after  the  departure  of  the  Regulat- 
ors,  who  had  broken  up  the  session  of  the  Superior 
Court  at  Hillsborough  and  compelled  the  judges  to 
flee,  an  association  paper  was  drawn  up  by  the  sup- 
porters of  the  Crown,  in  which  the  subscribers  sol- 
emnly engaged  to  support  the  government  against 
the  insurgents  at  the  risk  of  their  "  lives  and  for- 
tunes," etc.*  This  is  an  American  precedent  of  the 
use  of  these  terms  as  early  as  September,  1770.  The 
essay  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smythe,  of  Charleston,  to  which 
reference  has  been  already  made,  in  the  use  of  like 
words  and  phrases  to  those  contained  in  either  de- 
claration, in  the  Scottish  document,  which  he  men- 
tions, as  early  as  1670,  may  likewise  be  consulted  for 
many  expressions  similar  to  those  in  these  papers, 
notwithstanding  the  summary  and  not  very  respect- 
ful manner  in  which  it  is  passed  over  by  the  North 
American  Review. 

*  Vol.  2,  276. 


90  ADDRESS    OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

The  reviewer  apparently  considers  himself  fortu- 
nate in  finding  an  expression  of  Judge  Iredell,  of 
North  Carolina,  to  the  effect,  "  that  until  very  near 
the  time  when  the  arbitrary  obstinacy  of  the  King 
left  no  other  alternative  than  indefinite  submission  or 
unreserved  resistance,  he  never  heard  a  man  speak  on 
the  subject  of  independence  who  did  not  speak  of 
it  with  abhorrence  and  indignation."  And  the  emi- 
nent character  of  Judge  Iredell  is  very  justly  com- 
mented on. 

The  time  for  decision  on  this  alternative  is  left  very 
indefinite,  and  might  be  fixed  at  different  periods  by 
different  minds.  But  where  is  this  asseveration  found  ? 
It  is  in  a  document  addressed  to  His  Majesty  George 
the  Third,  King  of  Great  Britain,  etc.,  and  signed, 
"A  British  American,  March,  1777"—  never  for- 
warded to  the  King  nor  printed  till  1857,  but  circu- 
lated in  manuscript  among  the  friends  of  Mr.  Iredell, 
as  what  has  since  come  to  be  known  as  a  campaign 
document,  to  reconcile  the  people  to  independence 
and  rouse  them  to  its  defence.  It  is,  at  most,  a  rhe- 
torical effusion  in  the  argument  of  an  anonymous  ad- 
vocate, never  expected  to  be  seen  by  his  correspondent, 
and  not  heavily  taxing  his  memory  for  facts,  but  in- 
tent on  exposing  the  tyranny  and  folly  of  the  King. 
It  so  turns  out  that  in  the  same  first  volume  of  Iredell's 
Life  and  Correspondence,  p.  193-4-6,  quoted  by  the 
reviewer,  wre  find  independence  shadowed  forth  in  a 
letter  from  William  Hooper  to  Iredel),  bearing  date 
April  26th,  1774,  in  which  the  writer  says:  "With 
you  I  anticipate  the  important  share  which  the  colo- 


ADDRESS    OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  91 

nies  must  soon  have  in  regulating  the  political  bal- 
ance. They  are  striding  fast  to  independence,  and 
ere  long  will  build  an  empire  upon  the  ruins  of 
Great  Britain"  The  letter  is  copied  at  length  in 
the  Defence  of  J.  SeavvellJones,  p.  312,  who  remarks, 
"  I  look  upon  this  letter  as  not  inferior  to  any  event 
in  the  history  of  the  country,  and  in  the  boldness  and 
originality  of  it,  a  document  without  a  rival  at  the 
period  of  its  date.  It  takes  precedence  of  the  Meck- 
lenburg declaration,  as  that  does  of  the  national  de- 
claration of  independence."  Mr.  McRee,  the  biog- 
rapher of  Iredell,  copies  these  remarks  of  Jones  ap- 
provingly, and  in  his  work  refers  often  to  the  Meck- 
lenburg declaration  as  a  historical  event,  especially  in 
the  mention  of  Waightstill  Averv  as  a  delegate  at  its 

O  tt 

adoption.  It  is  quite  probable  that  Mr.  Iredell,  had 
the  matter  been  called  to  his  recollection,  would  have 
admitted  that  he  had  heard  of  the  resolution  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  urging  independence  on  the  12th 
of  April,  1776,  and  possibly  also  of  the  proceeding  in 
Mecklenburg  in  1775,  though  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  distant,  with  no  business  intercourse  between 
Edenton  and  Charlotte,  and  no  printing  press  at  either 
point.  But  whatever  may  be  our  conjectures  on  this 
head,  it  is  demonstrated  that  Mr.  Iredell  had  known 
of  a  suggestion  of  independence  in  no  equivocal,  but 
in  an  approving  sense,  and  apparently  in  reply  to  a 
like  meditation  on  his  own  part. 

It  remains  to  take  some  notice  of  the  arguments  of 
the  reviewer  drawn  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  at  Ilillsborough  on  the  20th  of 


92  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

August,  1775,  in  which  he  seems  to  suppose  that  he 
has  found  a  dilemma,  from  which  there  can  be  no 
escape.  The  journal  of  this  Congress,  which  was 
printed  and  published  at  that  time,  has  ever  bee«  re- 
garded as  a  noble  monument  of  the  patriotism  and  wis- 
dom of  the  men  who  were  its  members.  It  is  very  copi- 
ously extracted  from  by  Martin  and  Jones,  neither  of 
whom  discovered  in  it  anything  irreconcilable  with  the 
Mecklenburg  declaration  of  independence,  which  they 
both  affirm.  But  the  reviewer  raises  upon  it  a  ques- 
tion of  conscience,  and  goes  so  far  as  to  declare  it  in- 
famous, if  Mecklenburg  had  made  the  declaration  in 
question,  that  her  delegates  should  have  concurred  in 
the  action  of  this  Congress.  To  this  we  have  to  reply, 
first,  that  the  casuistry  of  a  professor's  chair  would  be 
as  well  applicable  to  the  sailing  of  a  ship  in  a  storm, 
as  to  measures  of  war  and  revolution.  It  has  never 
been  presumed  to  aid  in  planning  expeditions,  win- 
ning battles,  or  overturning  governments  ;  and  second, 
that  although  Mecklenburg  had  declared  her  inde- 
pendence of  Great  Britain,  there  were  two  other 
authorities  from  which  she  had  no  purpose  to  break, 
and  on  which  she  acknowledged  her  dependence  in 
her  very  declaration,  namely,  the  Continental  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  and  the  Provincial  Con- 
gress of  North  Carolina.  It  was,  therefore,  in  entire 
consonance  with  her  attitude  towards  Great  Britain, 
that  she  should  appoint  her  delegates  as  theretofore, 
to  this  Congress,  consisting,  as  we  are  told,  of  Thomas 
Polk,  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  John  Phifer  and 
"Waightstill  Avery,  and  conform  her  conduct  to  the 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  93 

decrees  of  that  Assembly,  which  was  then  the  sole 
depository  of  the  sovereign  powers  of  government  in 
the  Province,  legislative,  executive  and  judicial.  She 
was  not  quite  so  demented  or  obstinate  as  to  have  her 
delegates  withdraw  or  protest  whenever  a  measure 
should  be  proposed  or  carried,  which  compromised 
the  independence  she  had  set  up  for  herself ;  after 
the  example  of  certain  fanatical  Jews  commented  on 
by  Yattel,  who,  when  attacked  by  their  enemies  on 
Sunday,  suffered  themselves  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  rather 
than  be  considered  as  violating  the  fourth  command- 
ment in  making  defence.  This  is  the  position  the 
argument  of  the  reviewer  would  have  had  them  to 
assume,  rather  than  permit  the  representation  of  the 
whole  Province,  consisting  of  nearly  all  its  most  illus- 
trious men,  to  control  the  destinies  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple in  the  perils  which  environed  them.  The  same 
fanaticism  would  have  required  them,  on  the  return 
of  Capt.  Jack  from  Philadelphia,  to  denounce  the 
Continental  Congress  as  dastards,  and  resolve  to 
prosecute  the  war  and  maintain  independence  with- 
out allies  outside  of  the  limits  of  their  own  county, 
or  at  least  of  the  Province.  But  they  were  advised 
it  was  too  early  for  the  united  colonies  to  venture  so 
far,  and  they  abided  by  the  counsel  then  given  by  the 
authority  to  which  they  had  appealed.  And  when 
their  delegates  went  to  Hillsborough,  less  than  two 
months  after  Jack's  return,  they  there  found  Gas- 
well,  Hooper  and  Hewes,  who  sent  the  message  from 
Philadelphia  to  Mecklenburg,  all  members  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  from  their  respective  counties. 


94  ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

In  the  interim,  on  the  8th  of  July  they  had  each  set 
his  name,  with  all  the.  other  members  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  to  the  petition  to  the  King  for  a 
redress  of  grievances  and  disclaiming  designs  of  inde- 
pendence. This  we  now  see,  though  it  was  probably 
not  revealed  to  the  Provincial  Congress,  and  we  can 
readily  understand,  that  in  a  body  of  which  they  were 
members,  to  which  they  brought  intelligence,  doubt- 
less, as  to  the  state  of  sentiment  in  all  the  colonies, 
and  in  which  they  from  their  station  would  exert  a 
decisive  influence,  there  was  no  likelihood  of  a  pro- 
clamation of  independence.  No  one  has  ever  pre- 
tended that  the  whole  colony  was  then  ready  for  inde- 
pendence. And,  as  Mecklenburg  had  deterred  to  the 
views  of  the  Continental  Congress,  so  she  but  yielded 
a  like  deference  through  her  delegates  to  this  Provin- 
cial Congress  in  not  making  a  demonstration  of  her 
local  sentiment,  which  she  was  doubtless  advised 
would  not  be  seconded,  and  could  but  lead  to  dissen- 
sion. No  yeas  and  nays  were  taken  on  any  question. 
No  one  desired  to  make  up  "a  journal  to  be  afterwards 
quoted  to  exhibit  his  personal  consistency.  All  were 
intent  only  on  the  deliverance  of  their  country — some 
doubtless  with  views  of  policy  far  more  advanced  than 
others — and  an  undivided  vote  in  all  important  sub- 
jects was  of  great  moment.* 

But  what  did  this  Congress  do  that  was  so  deroga- 
tory to  the  honor  of  the  delegates  from  Mecklen- 
burg, that  they  should  have  withheld  from  it  their 

*  See  Journal  of  Congress,  August,  1775. 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.   GRAHAM.  95 

consent  ?  We  are  told  that,  1st,  a  test  was  established 
to  which  they  submitted.  A  test  of  what  ?  of  loy- 
alty to  the  King,  or  of  fidelity  to  the  Continen- 
tal and  Provincial  Congresses?  This  paper  is  copied 
but  in  part,  in  the  article  in  the  North  American 
Review^  and  that  which  we  may  term  the  British 
part.  Its  full  import  is  not  to  be  comprehended 
from  the  Review.  We  therefore  give  it  in  full,  as 
follows : 

"  We  the  subscribers,  professing  our  allegiance  to 
the  King,  and  acknowledging  the  Constitutional,  Ex- 
ecutive power  of  Government,  do  solemnly  profess, 
testify  and  declare,  that  we  do  absolutely  believe  that 
neither  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  nor  any 
member  or  constituent  branch  thereof,  have  a  right 
to  impose  Taxes  upon  the  colonies  to  regulate  the  in- 
ternal policy  thereof,  and  all  attempts,  by  fraud  or 
force,  to  establish  and  exercise  such  claims  and  pow- 
ers, are  violations  of  the  peace  and  security  of  the 
people,  and  ought  to  be  resisted  to  the  utmost."  [So 
far  goes  the  copy  in  the  Review.'}  "  And  that  the 
people  of  this  Province,  singly  and  collectively,  are 
bound  by  the  acts  and  resolutions  of  the  Continental 
and  Provincial  Congress,  because  in  both  they  are 
freely  represented  by  persons  chosen  by  themselves  ; 
and  we  solemnly  and  sincerely  promise  and  engage, 
under  the  sanction  of  virtue  and  honor,  and  the  sacred 
love  of  liberty  and  our  country,  to  maintain  and  sup- 
port all  and  every  the  acts,  resolutions  and  regulations 
of  the  said  Continental  and  Provincial  Congresses,  to 
the  utmost  of  our  power  and  abilities.  In  testimony 


96  ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

whereof  we  have  hereto  set  our  hands,  this  23d  of 
August,  1775." 

Saving  the  first  two  lines,  thrown  in  for  the  sake  of 
the  scrupulous  or  disaffected,  to  afford  a  semblance  of 
remaining  loyalty  to  the  King  as  an  Executive  power, 
this  test  contains  an  emphatic  denial  of  all  authority 
of  Parliament  over  the  colonies — a  declaration  that  it 
should  be  resisted  to  the  utmost,  and  a  solemn  engage- 
ment to  maintain  and  support  all  and  every  the  acts,  re- 
gulations and  resolutions  of  the  Continental  and  Pro- 
vincial Congresses.  It  is  in  these  latter  particulars 
quite  equal  to  the  oath  now  required  of  a  foreigner  upon 
his  naturalization  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  to 
renounce  his  native  allegiance  and  be  faithful  to  his  new 
government.  There  was  among  the  people  of  the 
Province,  a  large  number  who  had  been  engaged  in 
the  Regulation,  been  overcome  at  Alamance — some 
punished  capitally,  and  all  the  survivors  compelled  to 
take  anew  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King  :  another 
large  settlement  of  Scotch  Highlanders,  recently 
arrived,  and  still  arriving  from  their  native  country, 
who  remembered  a  like  defeat  at  Culloden  in  the  year 
'45.  Both  of  these  were  inclined  to  the  support  of 
the  Crown,  as  well  from  scruples  of  conscience  as  from 
dread  of  punishment.  The  first  object  of  this  Con- 
gress, no  doubt,  was  to  exact  a  bond  of  obedience  to 
itself  and  the  Continental  Congress,  "  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power  and  abilities,"  from  every  citizen ;  but 
so  to  attemper  the  requirement  that  these  classes 
might  be  brought  into  the  engagement,  and  that  even 
the  disaffected  should  have  no  excuse  for  refusal. 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.   A.   GRAHAM.  97 

Thus  understood  it  excites  a  smile  to  see  this  test 
treated  by  our  reviewer  as  a  test  of  loyalty  to  the 
King,  the  more  especially  when  we  read  in  the  Jour- 
nals of  many  individuals  being  arrested  and  brought 
before  the  Congress  under  this  test,  charged  with  dis- 
affection to  its  authority,  but  of  no  one  charged  with 
disloyalty  to  the  King,  nor  of  any  military  or  police 
force,  to  hunt  out  such,  and  make  arrests.*  It  is  need- 
less to  add,  that  a  force  of  this  latter  class  would  have 
been  itself  promptly  arrested,  if  not  summarily  exe- 
cuted. This  test  was  deemed  so  essential  that  it  was 
administered  to  all  officials  under  the  Congress,  with- 
out distinction  of  person,  in  this  and  the  succeeding 
body  of  April  4th,  1776.  Even  after  the  passage  of 
the  famous  resolutions,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1776, 
instructing  the  delegates  of  the  Province  in  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  to  vote  for  independence,  we  read 
in  the  Journal  of  April  15th.  1776,  that  "  William 
Hooper  and  John  Penn,  Esqs.,  delegates  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  and  members  of  this  House, 
appeared,  subscribed  the  test  and  took  their  seats." 
And  it  may  be  a  matter  of  surprise  to  the  scrupulous 
of  a  later  day,  that  Messrs.  Hooper  and  Penn  should 
thus  unnecessarily  involve  their  consciences  by  taking 
this  test  to  the  King,  if  it  was  such,  after  they 
had  been  instructed  to  vote  for  independence,  and 
then,  within  three  months,  giving  their  votes  and  sub- 
scription to  the  national  declaration.  But'  thus  it 
appears  of  record. 

*  See  in  Journal  cases  of  Coulson,  Farq'd,  Campbell  and  others. 


98  ADDRESS   OP  WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

2.  But  the  Congress  resolved  unanimously  (Meck- 
lenburg -included)  that  "the  Proclamation  of  Governor 
Martin,  of  the  8th  of  August  inst.,  is  a  false,  scanda- 
lous, scurrilous,  malicious  and  seditious  libel,  tending 
to  disunite  the  good  people  of  this  Province,  and  stir 
up  tumults  and  insurrections,  dangerous  to  the  peace 
of  his  Majesty's  government,  and  the  safety  of  the  in- 
habitants, and  highly  injurious  to  the  character  of 
several  gentlemen  of  acknowledged  virtue  and  loyalty 
— and  further,  that  the  paper  be  burned  by  the  com- 
mon hangman." 

This  Proclamation,  which  is  copied  in  "Jones's  De- 
fence "  (p.  183),  and  covers  near  ten  pages  of  that  vol- 
ume, is  too  long  for  minute  comment  here.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say,  that  in  applying  to  it  the  term 
"  false,"  it  was  not  to  be  implied  that  the  facts  recited 
in  it  were  untrue.  In  the  criminal  law  of  that  time 
it  was  a  maxim,  "  The  greater  the  truth  the  greater 
the  libel,"  if  the  publication  tended  to  expose  the 
subject  of  it  "  to  public  hatred,  contempt  or  ridicule," 
and  the  term  "  false  "  was  but  a  formula  for  charac- 
terizing a  libel.  The  Congress,  therefore,  did  not  in- 
tend by  the  resolution  to  deny  that  "  a  committee  for 
the  county  of  Mecklenburg  had  passed  resolves 
declaring  the  entire  dissolution  of  the  laws,  govern- 
ment and  constitution  of  this  country,"  etc.,  (as  Gov- 
ernor Martin  alleged,)  any  more  than  to  deny  that 
John  Ashe  and  his  associates  had  burned  Fort  John- 
ston, or  that  Caswell,  Hooper  and  Hewes  had  writ- 
ten the  letter  imputed  to  them,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  into  effect  the  resolutions  of  the  Continental 


ADDRESS   OF   WM.    A.   GRAHAM.  99 

Congress,  or  that  Samuel  Johnston  had  convoked  this 
Congress  (all  which  with  many  other  acts  and  per- 
sons were  denounced  in  the  Proclamation) :  but  the 
libel  consisted  in  holding  up  the  several  acts  and  per- 
sons mentioned  to  public  hatred  and  contempt,  by  the 
publication.  As  to  the  loyalty  the  resolution  may 
imply,  we  have  seen  how  far  that  extended  in  the 
test,  into  which  the  members  of  the  Congress  had  en- 
tered, and  which  they  prescribed  to  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Province.  Measured  by  this  it  was  not  a 
span  in  length. 

3.  We  have  not  space  or  time  to  investigate  the  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  Britain,  which  does  not  appear 
ever  to  have  been  transmitted — or  the  rejection  of 
the  proposition  for  a  plan  of  confederation  of  the 
American  colonies,  mentioned  in  the  Review.  Let  it 
suffice  to  say,  that  the  new  Whig  Government, 
through  the  Provincial  Congresses,  and  in  their  vaca- 
tion by  the  Provincial  Council,  with  the  standard  of 
political  duty  established  by  the  test  before  recited, 
ruled  the  country  with  a  bold  yet  politic  and  in- 
dulgent hand.  Great  pains  were  taken,  through  com- 
mittees and  otherwise,  to  explain  the  situation  to  the 
people ;  but  those  who  were  friends  to  the  King, 
rather  than  to  this  Provincial  authority,  were  sought 
out  and  arrested,  and  then  imprisoned  or  exiled,  until 
they  renounced  such  adhesion  or  gave  pledges  for 
right  behavior.  Not  only  this,  the  Congress  organized 
a  war  establishment  upon  a  substantial  footing — made 
expeditions,  fought  battles,  and  won  victories  over  the 
King's  friends,  in  South  Carolina  and  Virginia,  in  con- 


100  ADDEESS   OF   WM.    A.    GRAHAM. 

junction  with  the  patriot  troops  of  those  States,  as 
well  as  at  Moore's  Creek,  within  our  own  borders ; 
and  by  the  time  the  Congress  met  again  the  ensuing 
Spring,  was  prompt  to  reward  these  exploits  with  the 
honors  of  a  triumph,  in  votes  of  thanks  to  her  heroic 
commanders.* 

If  the  delegates  from  Mecklenburg  did  not  find  an 
echo  to  her  declaration  of  principles,  and  made  com- 
pliances which  may  appear  to  have  occasioned  them 
chagrin,  in  practical  results  they  could  have  desired 
nothing  better  than  was  planned  and  executed  by  this 
Congress. 

They  might  well  have  said  to  their  people  at  home, 
"  Oui'  strength  is  to  sit  still."  The  Congress  was  ef- 
fecting all  that  they  desired,  and  at  this  Spring  ses- 
sion they  had  the  great  satisfaction  to  see  the  Congress 
nobly  resolve  on  independence,  as  they  had  done  on  the 
20th  of  May,  1775,  before  the  representatives  of  any 

*1.  The  thanks  of  Congress  were  voted  to  Brigadier  Genl. 
Howe  for  his  manly,  generous  and  warlike  conduct  in  these  un- 
happy times  :  more  especially  for  the  reputation  which  our  Pro- 
vincial troops  acquired  under  him  at  the  conflagration  of  Nor- 
folk (Deer.,  1775).  Journal,  p.  33. 

2.  Likewise  to  Col.  Richard  Caswell,  and  the  brave  officers  and 
soldiers  under  his  command,  for  the  very  essential  service  by 
them  rendered  this  country,  at  the  battle  of  Moore's  Creek  (Feb. 
27th,  1776).     Journal,  p.  12. 

3.  The  expedition  of  Cols.  Polk,  of  Mecklenburg,  Rutherford, 
of  Rowan,   Neel,  of  Tryon,  and  two  companies  of  N.   C.   Conti- 
nental troops  under  Col.  Alexander  Martin,  in  conjunction  with 
the  troops  of  South  Carolina,  against  the  Scovilites  in  that  State, 
called  the  Snow  Campaign,  was  also  made  in  December.  1775.-— 
Genl.  Graham's  Memoranda. 


ADDRESS   OP  WM.    A.    GRAHAM.  101 

other  colony  had  taken  this  decisive  step.  Congress 
met  at  Halifax  on  the  4th  of  April,  1776.  "  On  the 
8th  it  was  resolved,  that  Mr.  Harnett,  Mr.  Allen 
Jones,  Mr.  Burke,  Mr.  Nash,  Mr.  Kinchen,  Mr.  Per- 
son and  Mr.  Thomas  Jones,  be  a  select  committee  to 
take  into  consideration  the  usurpations  and  vio- 
lences attempted  and  committed  by  the  King  and 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  against  America,  and 
the  further  measures  to  be  taken  for  frustrating  the 

O 

same,  and  for  the  better  defence  of  this  Province." 
On  the  12th  of  April,  1776,  the  select  committee  re- 
ported as  follows,  to  wit :  "  It  appears  to  your  com- 
mittee that  pursuant  to  the  plan  concerted  by  the 
British  Ministry  for  the  subjugation  of  America,  the 
King  and  Parliament  of  Great  Brrtain  have  usurped 
a  power  over  the  persons  and  properties  of  the  peo- 
ple unlimited  and  uncontrolled ;  and  disregarding 
their  humble  petitions  for  peace,  liberty  and  safety, 
have  made  divers  legislative  acts  denouncing  war, 
famine  and  every  species  of  calamity  against  the  con- 
tinent in  general.  The  British  fleets  and  armies  have 
been  and  still  are  daily  employed  in  destroying  the 
people,  and  committing  the  most  horrid  devastations  on 
the  country.  The  Governors  in  different  colonies  have 
declared  protection  to  slaves  who  should  imbrue  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  their  masters.  That  the  ships 
belonging  to  America  are  declared  prizes  of  war,  and 
many  of  them  have  been  violently  seized  and  confis- 
pated.  In  consequence  of  all  which,  multitudes  of 
the  people  have  been  destroyed,  or  from  easy  circum- 
stances reduced  to  the  most  lamentable  distress.  And 


102  ADDEESS   OF   WM.   A.    GRAHAM. 

whereas,  the  moderation  hitherto  manifested  by  the 
united  colonies,  and  their  sincere  desire  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  the  mother  country  on  constitutional  princi- 
ples, have  procured  no  mitigation  of  the  aforesaid 
wrongs  and  usurpations,  and  no  hopes  remain  of  ob- 
taining redress  by  these  means  alone,  which  have  been 
hitherto  tried,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  the 
House  should  enter  into  the  following  resolve,  to  wit : 

Resolved,  "that  the  delegates  from  this  colony  in 
the  Continental  Congress  be  empowered  to  concur 
with  the  delegates  of  the  other  colonies  in  declaring 
Independency,  and  forming  foreign  alliances,  reserv- 
ing to  the  colony  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  of  form- 
ing a  constitution  and  laws  for  this  colony,  and  of 
appointing  delegates  from  time  to  time,  (under  the 
direction  of  a  general  representation  thereof)  to  meet 
the  delegates  of  the  other  colonies,  for  such  purposes 
as  shall  be  hereafter  pointed  out." 

"  The  Congress  taking  the  same  into  consideration 
unanimously  concurred  therewith." 

Our  progress  to  independence  then,  was  by  these 
steps  : 

1st.  Mecklenburg  dissolved  her  connection  on  the 
20th  May,  1775,  from  the  mother  country,  but  Avas  still 
subject  to  the  government  of  the  Provincial  Congress 
which  was  in  alliance  with  the  Continental  Congress. 

2d.  The  test  adopted  by  the  Provincial  Congress 
on  the  23d  of  August,  1775,  in  effect  cut  the  cord  of 
connection  between  the  Province  of  North  Carolina 
and  Great  Britain,  and  required  an  obligation  of  al- 
legiance to  the  Provincial  and  Continental  Con- 


ADDRESS   OF  WM.   A.    GRAHAM.  103 

presses,  without  limit  of  time — a  transfer  of  fealty, 
but  as  yet,  without  a  change  of  flag. 

3d.  This  severance  was  acknowledged,  and  pro- 
posed for  the  adoption  of  the  Continent,  by  the  re- 
port and  resolution  of  the  12th  April,  1776. 

4th.  Other  colonies  subsequently  adopted  like  reso- 
lutions, and  the  great  National  Declaration  followed 
on  the  4th  July,  1776,  converting  Provinces  into 
States,  and  uniting  all  in  bonds  of  harmony,  and  mu- 
tual defence  and  protection. 

The  learned,  elaborate,  and  minute  criticism  in  the 
I\"»i-th  American  Review,  controverting  the  truth  of 
the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  the  20th  May,  though 
conceding  and  allowing  due  credit  for  the  resolutions 
of  the  31st,  will,  I  trust,  plead  due  apology  for  the 
prolixity  of  this  vindication.  Perhaps  it  may  be  well, 
even  irrespective  of  this  commentary,  on  the  approach 
of  the  hundredth  birthday  of  the  event,  when  all  of 
the  old  thirteen  States  seem  to  be  brushing  off  the  dust 
from  their  armor,  and  brightening  their  escutcheon 
for  display  on  the  great  Centennial  of  the  Union,  that 
we  should  review  history  and  see  the  foundations  on 
which  our  faith  in  it  may  rest.  This  I  have  sought 
to  do  by  the  lights  within  our  approach,  candidly 
and  without  a  particle  of  vanity  or  envy  towards  any 
of  our  sister  States.  All  stood  bravely  side  by  side 
in  the  achievement  of  the  end  proclaimed  ;  and  with- 
out the  material  resources,  the  gallant  armies,  the 
sages  and  heroes  of  all,  and  even  with  these,  without 
the  repeated  favors  of  a  benign  Providence,  any  De- 
claration of  Independence  would  have  been  but  an 
empty  sound. 


DOCUMENTS  CITED  IN  PRECEDING  ADDRESS. 


A. — The  Dame  Copy  of  the  Declaration.   (See  p.  12.) 

1st.  Resolved,  That  whosoever  directly  or  indi- 
rectly abetted,  or  in  any  way,  form,  or  manner,  coun- 
tenanced the  unchartered  and  dangerous  invasion  of 
our  rights,  as  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy 
to  this  country,  to  America,  and  to  the  inherent  and 
inalienable  rights  of  man. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Mecklen- 
burg county,  do  hereby  dissolve  the  political  bands 
which  have  connected  us  to  the  mother  country,  and 
hereby  absolve  ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  the 
British  Crown,  and  abjure  all  political  connection, 
contract,  or  association,  with  that  nation,  who  have 
wantonly  trampled  on  our  rights  and  liberties,  and 
inhumanly  shed  the  blood  of  American  patriots  at 
Lexington. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  declare  ourselves 
a  free  and  independent  people ;  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  a  sovereign  and  self-governing  Associa- 
tion, under  the  control  of  no  power  other  than  that 
of  our  God  and  the  general  government  of  the  Con- 
gress; to  the  maintenance  of  which  independence, 
we  solemnly  pledge  to  each  other  our  mutual  co- 
operation, our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  most  sacred 
honor. 

4th.  Resolved,  That  as  we  now  acknowledge  the 
existence  and  control  of  no  law  or  legal  officer,  civil 
or  military,  within  this  county,  we  do  hereby  ordain 


10G          DOCUMENTS   CITED   IN   PEECEDING   ADDEESS. 

and  adopt  as  a  rule  of  life,  all,  each  and  every  of  our 
former  laws, — wherein,  nevertheless,  the  Crown  of 
Great  Britain  never  can  be  considered  as  holding 
rights,  privileges,  immunities,  or  authority  therein. 

5th.  Resolved,  That  it  is  further  decreed,  that  all, 
each  and  every  military  officer  in  this  county,  is  here- 
by reinstated  in  his  former  command  and  authority, 
he  acting  conformably  to  these  regulations.  And 
that  every  member  present,  of  this  delegation,  shall 
henceforth  be  a  civil  officer,  viz.,  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  in  the  character  of  a  "  Committee-man"  to 
issue  process,  hear  and  determine  all  matters  of  con- 
troversy, according  to  said  adopted  laws,  and  to  pre- 
serve peace,  union  and  harmony  in  said  county ; — 
and  to  use  every  exertion  to  spread  the  love  of 
country  and  fire  of  freedom  throughout  America, 
until  a  more  general  and  organized  government  be 
established  in  this  province. 


JB. — Resolutions  as  in  Martins  History r,  Vol.  2, 
Page  373.     (See  p.  14.) 

Resolved. — That  whosoever  directly  or  indirectly 
abets  or  in  any  way,  form  or  manner  countenances  the 
invasion  of  our  rights,  as  attempted  by  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy  to  his  country,  to 
America,  and  the  rights  of  men. 

Resolved. — That  we  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg 
county  do  hereby  dissolve  the  political  bands  which 
have  connected  us  with  the  mother  country,  and*  ab- 


DOCUMENTS   CITED   IN   PRECEDING   ADDRESS.        107 

solve  ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
crown,  abjuring  all  political  connection  with  a  nation 
that  has  wantonly  trampled  on  our  rights  and  liber- 
ties and  inhumanly  shed  the  innocent  blood  of  Ameri- 
cans at  Lexington. 

Resolved. — That  we  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  a 
free  and  independent  people,  are,  and  of  right  ought  to 
be,  a  sovereign  and  self-governing  people,  under  the 
power  of  God  and  the  General  Congress;  to  the  main- 
tenance of  which  independence,  we  solemnly  pledge  to 
each  other  our  mutual  co-operation,  our  lives,  our  for- 
tunes, and  our  most  sacred  honor. 

Resolved. — That  we  hereby  ordain  and  adopt  as 
rules  of  conduct,  all  and  each  of  our  former  laws,  and 
the  crown  of  Great  Britain  cannot  be  considered 
hereafter  as  holding  any  rights,  privileges  or  immu- 
nities amongst  us. 

Resolved. — That  all  officers,  both  civil  and  military, 
in  this  county,  be  entitled  to  exercise  the  same  powers 
and  authorities  as  heretofore :  that  every  member  of 
this  delegation  shall  henceforth  be  a  civil  officer  and 
exercise  the  powers  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  issue  pro- 
cess, hear  and  determine  controversies  according  to  law, 
preserve  peace,  union  and  harmony,  in  the  county, 
and  use  every  exertion  to  spread  the  love  of  liberty 
and  of  country,  until  a  more  general,  and  better  or- 
ganized system  of  Government  be  established. 

Resolved. — That  a  -copy  of  these  resolutions  be 
transmitted  by  express  to  the  President  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  to  be  laid 
before  that  body. 


103        DOCUMENTS   CITED   IN  PRECEDING  ADDEESS. 

C.— KESOLUTIONS  OF  31ST  MAY.    (See  p.  19.) 

Extract  from  the  South  Carolina  Gazette  and  County 

Journal,  of  June,  1775,  No.  498 — Printed  at 

Charlestoiun  ~by  Charles  Crouch,  on  the 

Bay,  corner  of  Elliott  Street. 

CHAKLOTTETOWN,  Mecklenburg  County, 

May  31st,  1775. 

This  day  the  Committee  of  this  county  met  and 
passed  the  following  resolves  : — 
•  Whereas,  By  an  address  presented  to  His  Majesty 
by  both  Houses  of  Parliament  in  February  last,  the 
American  Colonies  are  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  ac- 
tual rebellion,  we  conceive  that  all  laws  and  commis- 
sions confirmed  by  or  derived  from  the  authority  of 
the  King  and  Parliament  are  annulled  and  vacated, 
and  the  former  civil  constitution  of  these  colonies  for 
the  present  wholly  suspended.  To  provide  in  some 
degree  for  the  exigencies  of  this  county  in  the  present 
alarming  period,  we  deem  it  proper  and  necessary  to 
pass  the  following  resolves,  viz  : — 

I.  That  all  commissions,  civil  and  military,  hereto- 
fore granted  by  the  crown  to  be  exercised  in  these 
colonies,   are   null   and   void,   and   the   constitution 
of  each  particular  colony  wholly  suspended. 

II.  That  the  Provincial  Congress  of  each  Province, 
under  the  direction   of  the  Great  Continental  Con- 
gress, is  invested  with  all  legislative  and  executive 
powers  within  their  respective  provinces,  and  that  no 
other  legislative  or  executive  power  does  or  can  exist 
at  this  time  in  any  of  these  colonies. 

III.  As  all  former  laws  are  now  suspended  in  this 


DOCUMENTS  CITED   IN  PEECEDING  ADDRESS.        109 

Province,  and  the  Congress  has  not  yet  provided 
others,  we  judge  it  necessary  for  the  better  preserva- 
tion of  good  order,  to  form  certain  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  Internal  Government  of  this  county,  un- 
til laws  shall  be  provided  for  us  by  the  Congress. 

IY.  That  the  inhabitants  of  this  county  do  meet  on 
a  certain  day  appointed  by  the  Committee,  and  having 
formed  themselves  into  nine  companies  (to  wit :  eight 
for  the  county  and  one  for  the  town),  do  choose 
a  colonel  and  other  military  officers,  who  shall  hold 
and  exercise  their  several  powers  by  virtue  of  the 
choice,  and  independent  of  the  crown  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, and  former  constitution  of  this  province. 

Y.  That  for  the  better  preservation  of  the  peace 
and  administration  of  justice,  each  of  those  companies 
do  choose  from  their  own  body  two  discreet  free- 
holders, who  shall  be  empowered  each  by  himself,  and 
singly,  to  decide  and  determine  all  matters  of  contro- 
versy arising  within  said  company,  under  the  sum  of 
twenty  shillings,  and  jointly  and  together  all  contro- 
versies under  the  sum  of  forty  shillings,  yet  so  as  their 
decisions  may  admit  of  appeal  to  the  Convention  of 
the  Select  Men  of  the  County,  and  also  that  any  one 
of  these  men  shall  have  power  to  examine  and  commit 
to  confinement  persons  accused  of- petit  larceny. 

YI.  That  those  two  select  men  thus  chosen  do 
jointly  and  together  choose  from  the  body  of  their 
particular  company  two  persons  to  act  as  constables, 
who  may  assist  them  in  the  execution  of  their  office. 

YII.  That  upon  the  complaint  of  any  persons  to 
either  of  these  select  men,  he  do  issue  his  warrant  di- 


110        DOCUMENTS  CITED  IN   PRECEDING   ADDEESS. 

rected  to  the  constable,  commanding  him  to  bring  the 
aggressor  before  him  to  answer  said  complaint. 

"VIII.  That  these  select  eighteen  select  men  thus 
appointed  do  meet  every  third  Thursday  in  January, 
April,  July  and  October  at  the  Court  House  in 
Charlotte,  to  hear  and  determine  all  matters  of  con- 
troversy for  sums  exceeding  4:0,9.,  also  appeals ;  and 
in  case  of  felony  to  commit  the  persons  convicted 
thereof  to  close  confinement  until  the  Provincial 
Congress  shall  provide  and  establish  laws  and  modes 
of  proceeding  in  all  such  cases. 

IX.  That  these  eighteen  select  men  thus  convened 
do  choose  a  clerk,  to  record  the  transactions  of  said 
convention,  and  that  said  clerk,  upon  the  application 
of  any  person  or  persons  aggrieved,  do  issue  his  war- 
rant to  any  of  the  constables  of  the  company  to  which 
the  offender  belongs,  directing  said  constable  to  sum- 
mon and  warn   said  offender  to  appear  before  said 
convention  at  their  next  sitting,  to  answer  the  afore- 
said complaint. 

X.  That  any  person  making  complaint,  upon  oath, 
to  the  clerk,  or  any  member  of  the  convention,  that 
he  has  reason  to  suspect  that. any  person  or  persons 
indebted  to  him  in  a  sum  above  forty  shillings  intend 
clandestinely  to  withdraw  from  the  county  without 
paying  the  debt,  the  clerk  or  such  member  shall  issue 
his  warrant  to  the  constable,  commanding  him  to  take 
said  person  or  persons  into. safe  custody  until  the  next 
sitting  of  the  convention. 

XL  That  when  a  debtor  for  a  sum  above  forty  shil- 
lings shall  abscond  and  leave  the  county,  the  warrant 


DOCUMENTS  CITED  IN  PRECEDING  ADDRESS.        Ill 

granted  as  aforesaid  shall  extend  to  any  goods  or  chat- 
tels of  said  debtor  as  may  be  found,  and  such  goods 
or  chattels  be  seized  and  held  in  custody  by  the  con- 
stable for  the  space  of  thirty  days,  in  which  time,  if 
the  debtor  fail  to  return  and  discharge  the  debt,  the 
constable  shall  return  the  warrant  to  one  of  the 
select  men  of  the  company  where  the  goods  are 
found,  who  shall  issue  orders  to  the  constable  to  sell 
such  a  part  of  said  goods  as  shall  amount  to  the  sum 
due. 

That  when  the  debt  exceeds  forty  shillings,  the  re- 
turn shall  be  made  to  the  convention,  who  shall  issue 
orders  for  sale. 

XII.  That  all  receivers  and  collectors  of  quit  rents, 
public  and  county  taxes,  do  pay  the  same  into  the 
hands  of  the  chairman  ofthis  committee,  to  be  by  them 
disbursed  as  the  public  exigencies  may  require,  and 
that  such  receivers  and  collectors  proceed  no  further 
in  their  office  until  they  be  approved  of  by,  and  have 
given  to  this  committee  good  and  sufficient  security 
for   a   faithful   return   of    such    moneys   when    col- 
lected. 

XIII.  That  the  committee  be  accountable  to  the 
county  for  the  application  of  all  moneys   received 
from  such  public  officers. 

XIV.  That  all  these  officers  hold  their  commissions 
during  the  pleasure  of  their  several  constituents. 

XY.  That  this  committee  will  sustain  all  damages 
to  all  or  any  of  their  officers  thus  appointed,  and  thus 
acting,  on  account  of  their  obedience  and  conformity 
to  these  rules. 


112        DOCUMENTS  CITED   IN   PKECEDING  ADDKESS. 

XVI.  That  whatever  person  shall  hereafter  receive 
a  commission  from  the  crown,  or  attempt  to  exercise 
any  such  commission  heretofore  received,  shall  he 
deemed  an  enem,y  to  his  country,  and  upon  confir- 
mation being  made  to  the  captain  of  the  company  in 
which  he  resides,  the  said  company  shall  cause  him  to 
be  apprehended  and  conveyed  before  two  select  men, 
who,  upon  proof  of  the  fact,  shall  commit  said 
offender  to  safe  custody,  until  the  next  sitting  of  the 
committee,  who  shall  deal  with  him  as  prudence  may 
direct. 

XYII.  That  any  person  refusing  to  yield  obedience 
to  the  above  rules  shall  be  considered  equally  crimi- 
nal, and  liable  to  the  same  punishment,  as  the 
offenders  above  last  mentioned. 

XVIII.  That  these  resolves  be  in  full  force  and 
virtue  until  instructions  from  the  Provincial  Congress 
regulating  the  jurisprudence  of  the   province  shall 
provide  otherwise,  or  the  legislative  body  of  Great 
Britain   resign   its  unjust  and  arbitrary  pretensions 
with  respect  to  America. 

XIX.  That   the   eight   militia   companies  in  this 
county   provide   themselves   with  proper  arms   and 
accoutrements,  and  hold  themselves  in  readiness  .to 
execute   the   commands  and  directions   of  the  Gen- 
eral Congress   of   this   province   and   this   Commit- 
tee. 

XX.  That  the  Committee  appoint   Col.    Thomas 
Polk   and    Dr.    Joseph    Kennedy    to   purchase   300 
pounds  of  powder,  600  pounds  of  lead,  1000  flints,  for 
the  use  of  the  militia  of  this  county,  and  deposit  the 


DOCUMENTS   CITED   IN   PRECEDING  ADDRESS.        113 

same  in  such  place  as  the  Committee  may  hereafter 
direct. 

Signed  by  order  of  the  Committee, 

EPIL  BREVARD, 

Clerk  of  the  Committee. 


D.— (See  page  38.) 

Letter  from  Son.  C.  Tait,  Member  of  Congress 
from  Georgia. 

"WASHINGTON,  Jan'y  25th,  1819. 

DEAR  SIK  : — Of  late  an  inquiry,  and  in  some 
instances  a  controversy,  has  arisen  respecting  the 
origin  of  the  American  Revolution.  Some  say  it  be- 
gan in  Virginia,  and  for  this  honor  the  Virginians 
strenuously  contend.  The  people  of  New  England 
assert  that  it  commenced  in  the  Town  of  Boston, 
and  much  has  been  written  of  late  on  the  subject. 
This  controversy  has  been  dignified  by  a  correspond- 
ence between  two  ex-Presidents  of  the  U.  8., — Adams 
and  Jefferson.  Other  parts  of  the  country  begin  to 
put  in  their  pretensions  to  an  early  movem't  in  this 
great  event,  which  is  destined  to  influence  the  affairs  of 
mankind.  North  Carolina  thinks  she  has  some  claims 
in  this  regard ;  and  Mr.  Macon  of  the  Senate  is  collect- 
ing what  information  he  can  on  the  subject.  It  appears 
by  a  document  lately  furnished  him  that  the  people 
of  the  count}'  of  Mecklenburg  of  that  State,  so  early  as 
on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  declared  themselves  inde- 


-114      DOCUMENTS  CITED   IN  PRECEDING   ADDRESS. 

pendent  in  dne  form  in  a  Convention  at  the  town  of 
Charlotte.  That  Adam  or  Abram  Alexander  was 
the  President  of  this  Convention,  and  that  John  Mc- 
Nitt  Alexander  was  its  Secretary  or  Clerk.  It  also 
appears  by  this  curious  Document  that  Cap^n  James 
Jack  was  the  person  chosen  to  carry  the  proceedings 
of  this  Convention  to  the  Continental  Congress  sit- 

o 

ting  at  Philadelphia.  Presuming  that  the  Cap'n 
Jack  is  no  other  person  than  your  respected  father,  I 
informed  Mr.  Macon  he  is  still  living  in  the  County 
of  Elbert  and  State  of  Georgia.  This  information 
has  produced  a  request  from  Mr.  Macon  that  I  would 
write  to  you  and  request  it  as  a  favour  of  you  to  for- 
ward to  him  any  Document,  or  copy  of  a  Document, 
which  has  any  relation  to  the  Mecklenburg  Conven- 
tion, or  of  the  revolutionary  movements  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  at  that  early  period.  This  I  persuade 
myself  you  will  with  pleasure  do.  By  possibility 
your  father  may  have  preserved,  as  a  precious  relic 
of  those  days,  some  papers  relating  to  the  proceed- 
ings alluded  to,  and  in  which  he  bore  an  honorable 
part.  If  this  is  the  case  it  will  gratify  Mr.  Macon 
very  much  to  get  them  or  a  copy  of  them. 

Present  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Jack,  to  your  father 
and  mother,  and  believe  me, 

Yours,  <fec.,  &c., 

(Signed.)  C.  TAIT. 

Gen.  P.  Jack. 

P.  S. — Mr.  Macon  will  be  very  glad  to  hear  from 
you  before  the  adjournment- of  Congress;  his  given 
name  is  Nathaniel.  0.  T. 


APPENDIX. 


THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE 

By  the  Citizens  of  Mecklenburg  County,  on  the  twentieth  day  of 
May,  1775,  icith  accompanying  documents,  published  by 
the  Governor,  under  the  authority  and  direc- 
tion of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  North  Carolina. 


PREFACE. 

THE  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  directing 
this  publication,  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to 
cause  to  be  published  in  pamphlet  form  the  Report  of 
the  Committee  relative  to  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, and  the  accompanying  documents,  in  the  follow- 
ing order,  viz. :  1.  The  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  with 
the  names  of  the  Delegates  composing  the  meeting. 
2.  The  certificates  testifying  to  the  circumstances  at- 
tending the  Declaration;  and  3.  The  proceedings  of 
the  Cumberland  Association. 

In  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  the  Governor  has  deemed 
it  proper  to  prefix  to  the  publication  the  following  brief 
review  of  the  evidence  by  which  the  authenticity  of  this 
interesting  portion  of  the  history  of  North  Carolina  is 
controverted  and  sustained. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1819,  the  publication  marked 
A,  made  its  appearance  in  the  Raleigh  Register.  It 
was  communicated  to  the  editors  of  that  paper  by  Doct. 
Joseph  McKnitt,  then  and  now  a  citizen  of  the  county  of 
Mecklenburg,  and  was  speedily  repnblished  in  most  of 


116  APPENDIX. 

the  newspapers  in  the  Union.  A  paper  containing  it 
(the  Essex  Register)  was,  it  seems,  on  the  22d  June, 
1819,  enclosed  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  by  his  illustrious  com- 
patriot, John  Adams,  accompanied  with  the  remark, 
that  he  thought  it  genuine  ;  and  this  suggestion  of  Mr. 
Adams  elicited  the  following  reply,  which  was  at  that 
time  published  in  various  newspapers,  and  has  been 
since  given  to  the  world  in  the  4th  volume  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  Works,  page  314 : 

TO  JOHN  ADAMS. 

"  Monticello,  July  9,  1819. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  in  debt  to  you  for  your  letters  of 
May  the  21st,  27th,  and  June  the  22nd.  The  first,  de- 
livered me  by  Mr.  Greenwood,  gave  me  the  gratification 
of  his  acquaintance  ;  and  a  gratification  it  always  is,  to 
be  made  acquainted  with  gentlemen  of  candor,  worth, 
and  information,  as  I  found  Mr.  Greenwood  to  be. 
That  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Samuel  Adams  Wells,  shall 
not  be  forgotten  in  time  and  place,  when  it  can  be  used 
to  his  advantage. 

"  But  what  has  attracted  my  peculiar  notice,  is  the 
paper  from  Mecklenburg  county,  of  North  Carolina, 
published  in  the  Essex  Kegister,  which  you  were  so  kind 
as  to  enclose  in  your  last,  of  June  the  22nd.  And  you 
seem  to  think  it  genuine.  I  believe  it  spurious.  I 
deem  it  to  be  a  very  unjustifiable  quiz,  like  that  of  the 
volcano,  so  minutely -related  to  us  as  having  broken  out 
in  North  Carolina,  some  half  dozen  years  ago,  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  perhaps  in  that  very  county 
of  Mecklenburg,  for  I  do  not  remember  its  precise 
locality.  If  this  paper  be  really  taken  from  the  Ealeigh 


APPENDIX.  117 

Register,  as  quoted,  I  wonder  it  should  have  escaped 
Ritchie,  who  culls  what  is  good  from  every  paper,  as  the 
bee  from  every  flower;  and  the  National  Intelligencer, 
too,  which  is  edited  by  a  North  Carolinian  ;  and  that 
the  fire  should  blaze  out  all  at  once  in  Essex,  one  thou- 
sand miles  from  where  the  spark  is  said  to  have  fallen. 
But  if  really  taken  from  the  Raleigh  Register,  who  is 
the  narrator,  and  is  the  name  subscribed  real,  or  is  it  as 
fictitious  as  the  paper  itself?  It  appeals,  too,  to  an  orig- 
inal book,  which  is  burnt,  to  Mr.  Alexander,  who  is 
dead,  to  a  joint  letter  from  Caswell,  Hewes,  and 
Hooper,  all  dead,  to  a  copy  sent  to  the  dead  Caswell,  and 
another  sent  to  Doctor  Williamson,  now  probably  dead, 
whose  memory  did  not  recollect,  in  the  history  he  has 
written  of  North  Carolina,  this  gigantic  step  of  its 
county  of  Mecklenburg.  Horry,  too,  is  silent  in  his 
history  of  Marion,  whose  scene  of  action  was  the  country 
bordering  on  Mecklenburg.  Ramsay,  Marshall,  Jones, 
Girardin,  Wirt,  historians  of  the  adjacent  States,  all 
silent.  When  Mr.  Henry's  resolutions,  far  short  of  in- 
dependence, flew  like  lightning  through  every  paper, 
and  kindled  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  this  flaming 
declaration  of  the  same  date,  of  the  independence  of 
Mecklenburg  county,  of  North  Carolina,  absolving  it 
from  the  British  allegiance,  and  abjuring  all  political 
connection  with  that  nation,  although  sent  to  Congress, 
too,  is  never  heard  of.  It  is  not  known  even  a  twelve- 
month after,  when  a  similar  proposition  is  first  made  in 
that  body.  Armed  with  this  bold  example,  would  not 
you  have  addressed  our  timid  brethren  in  peals  of  thun- 
der, on  their  tardy  fears  ?  Would  not  every  advocate 
of  independence  have  rung  the  glories  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  in  North  Carolina,  in  the  ears  of  the  doubting 


118  APPENDIX. 

Dickinson  and  others,  who  hung  so  heavily  on  us  ? 
Yet  the  example  of  independent  Mecklenburg  county, 
in  North  Carolina,  was  never  once  quoted.  The  paper 
speaks,  too,  of  the  continued  exertions  of  their  delega- 
tion (Casvrell, Hooper,  Hewes.)  'in  the  cause  of  liberty 
and  independence.'  Now,  yon  remember  as  well  as  I 
do,  that  we  had  not  a  greater  tory  in  Congress  than 
Hooper ;  that  Hewes  was  very  wavering,  sometimes 
firm,  'sometimes  feeble,  according  as  the  day  was  clear 
or  cloudy ;  that  Caswell,  indeed,  was  a  good  whig,  and 
kept  these  gentlemen  to  the  notch,  while  he  was  pres- 
ent ;  but  that  he  left  us  soon,  and  their  line  of  conduct 
became  then  uncertain  until  Penn  came,  who  fixed 
Hewes,  and  the  vote  of  the  State.  I  must  not  be  un- 
derstood as  suggesting  any  doubtfulness  in  the  State  of 
North  Carolina.  No  State  was  more  fixed  or  forward. 
Nor  do  I  affirm,  positively,  that  this  paper»is  a  fabrica- 
tion, because  the  proof  of  a  negative  can  only  be  pre- 
sumptive. But  I  shall  believe  it  such  until  positive 
and  solemn  proof  of  its  authenticity  shall  be  produced. 
And  if  the  name  of  McKnitt  be  real,  and  not  a  part  of 
the  fabrication,  it  needs  a  vindication  by  the  production 
of  such  proof.  For  the  present,  I  must  be  an  unbeliever 
in  the  apocryphal  gospel. 

"  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  Mr.  Ticknor  has  safely  re- 
turned to  his  friends;  but  should  have  been  much  more 
pleased  had  he  accepted  the  Professorship  in  our  Uni- 
versity, which  we  should  have  offered  him  in  form. 
Mr.  Bowditch,  too,  refuses  us ;  so  fascinating  is  the  vin- 
cnlum  of  the  dulce  natale  solum.  Our  wish  is  to  pro- 
cure natives,  where  they  can  be  found,  like  these  gen- 
tlemen, of  the  first  order  of  acquirement  in  their  respect- 
ive lines;  but  preferring  foreigners  of  the  first  order  to 


APPENDIX.  119 

natives  of  the  second,  we  shall  certainly  have  to  go,  for 
several  of  our  Professors,  to  countries  more  advanced 
in  science  than  we  are. 

"I  set  out  within  three  or  four  days  for  my  other 
home,  the  distance  of  which,  and  its  cross  mails,  are 
great  impediments  to  epistolary  communications.  I 
shall  remain  there  about  two  months;  and  there,  here, 
and  everywhere,  I  am  and  shall  always  be,  affectionately 
and  respectfully  yours, 

«  TH  :  JEFFERSON." 

The  republication  of  this  letter  in  a  work  which  is 
intended  for,  and  will  go  down  to  posterity,  recom- 
mended alike  by  its  intrinsic  excellence,  and  the  illus- 
trious name  of  the  author,  has  imposed  upon  the  Legis- 
lature the  task  of  proving  that,  with  regard  to  this 
particular  fact,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  mistaken,  and  that 
his  opinion  was  made  up  from  a  very  superficial  and 
inaccurate  examination  of  the  publication  in  the  Raleigh 
Register,  the  only  evidence  then  before  him,  and  upon 
which  his  letter  is  a  commentary. 

The  letter  itself  was  evidently  written  currente  cala- 
ino,  and  for  that  reason  may  not  be  regarded  as  a  fair 
subject  for  severe  criticism.  It  is  not  intended  to  subject 
it  to  such  a  test,  nor  is  it  designed  to  examine  it  further 
than  may  be  necessary  to  the  ascertainment  of  truth. 
Of  the  ability,  the  purity,  the  patriotism  of  the  author, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  speak.  His  love  of  country  was  not 
bounded  by  the  confines  of  Virginia;  but  it  is  no  dis- 
credit to  his  memory  that  her  institutions,  her  heroes 
and  her  statesmen  occupied  the  first  place  in  his  affec- 
tions. She  was  emphatically  'the  mother  of  great 
men,'  and  '  his  own,  his  native  land; '  and  it  is  no  mat- 


120  APPENDIX. 

ter  of  surprise  that  he  should  be  unwilling,  without  the 
most  ample  proof,  to  transfer  the  brightest  page  of  her 
history  to  emblazon  the  records  of  a  sister  State.  Mr. 
Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry  had  just  been  published, 
and  for  the  latter  was  claimed  the  high  distinction  of 
having  been  the  first  to  give  motion  to  the  ball  of  the 
Revolution.  Mr.  Jefferson  himself  was  the  author  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  by  Congress,  and  was 
not  disposed  to  share  in  any  degree  the  immortality 
with  which  it  had  crowned  him,  with  a  comparatively 
obscure  citizen  of  North  Carolina;  and,  therefore,  the 
evidence  which  was  at  once  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Adams, 
is  by  him  pronounced  "  to  be  a  very  unjustifiable  quiz." 
The  grounds  for  this  opinion,  in  the  order  in  which 
they  are  given  to  Mr.  Adams,  are,  1.  That  the  story  is 
"like  that  of  the  volcano*  having  broken  out  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  perhaps  in  that  very  county  of 
Mecklenburg."  2.  "  If  this  paper  be  really  taken  from 
the  Raleigh  Register,  as  quoted,  I  wonder  it  should 
have  escaped  Ritchie,"  &c.,  "and  that  the  fire  should  blaze 
out  all  at  once  in  Essex,  one  thousand  miles  from  where 
the  spark  is  said  to  have  fallen."  3.  "  But  if  really 
taken  from  the  Raleigh  Register,  who  is  the  narrator, 
and  is  the  name  subscribed  real,  or  is  it  as  fictitious 
as  the  paper  itself?"  4.  "It  appeals,  too,  to  an  original 
book,  which  is  burnt,  to  Mr.  Alexander,  who  is  dead, 
to  a  joint  letter  from  Caswell,  Hewes,  and  Hooper,  all 
dead,  to  a  copy  sent  to  the  dead  Caswell,  and  another 


*  The  hoax  alluded  to  was  published  in  1812,  and  represented 
the  volcano  as  having  broken  out  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Warm  Springs,  in  Buncombe,  a  point  nearly  as  distant  from  the 
county  of  Mecklenburg  as  from  Monticello. 


APPENDIX.  121 

sent  to  Doctor  Williamson,  now  probably  dead,  whose 
memory  did  not  recollect,  in  the  history  he  has  written 
of  North  Carolina,  this  gigantic  step  of  its  county  of 
Mecklenburg"  &c.,  &c. 

Without  further  remark  with  regard  to  the  first 
point — the  quiz  about  the  volcano — or  the  second, 
whether  the  "  spurious  "  paper  was  really  published  in 
the  Raleigh  Register,  it  is  proper  to  say,  in  reply  to  the 
third  argument,  that  the  name  subscribed  is  real,  that 
the  individual  still  lives,  that  he  is  moreover  a  credible 
witness,  and  that  it  is  to  his  laudable  attention  and  ex- 
ertions that  the  State  is  indebted  for  the  preservation 
of  much  of  the  testimony  which  is  now  offered  to  the 
public.  The  fourth  argument  demands,  and  will  re- 
ceive more  particular  attention  and  examination. 

The  paper  appeals  to  a  book,  which  is  burnt;  to  Mr. 
Alexander,  who  is  dead;  to  Messrs.  Caswell,  Hooper, 
and  Hewes,  all  dead;  to  a  copy  sent  to  "THE  DEAD 
CASWELL,"  and  another,  sent  to  Doct.Williamson,  proba- 
bly dead,  are  the  consecutive  facts  which  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son states,  and  on  which  lie  relies.  Admit  the  premises, 
and  the  conclusion  would  be  probable,  though  not  inevi- 
table ;  and  a  writer  of  much  less  ability,  if  permitted  to 
assume  his  facts,  might  predicate  upon  them  not  only 
a  very  plausible,  but  an  unanswerable  argument.  The 
very  fact,  however,  on  which  Mr.  Jefferson  rests,  as  the 
climax  of  improbabilities,  is  not  only  not  proved  to 
exist,  but,  upon  his  own  showing,  does  not  exist;  and 
justifies  the  remark  in  the  outset,  that  his  letter  was 
written  in  haste,  upon  a  very  superficial  and  imperfect 
view  of  the  subject.  The  paper  does  not  appeal  "TO 
THE  DEAD  CASWELL,*'  but  to  the  then  LIVING  DAVIE,  a 
native  of  the  section  of  country  in  which  the  event 


122  APPENDIX. 

occurred,  like  the  former,  a  distinguished  hero  of  the 
Revolution,  and,  in  every  respect,  a  proper  depositary  of 
the  record.  The  following  is  the  statement  in  question : 
(See  the  paper  A.)  ("The  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of 
the  papers,  on  the  above  subject,  left  in  my  hands  by 
John  McKnitt  Alexander,  dec'd.  I  find  it  mentioned  on 
file,  that  the  original  book  was  burned  April,  1800.  That 
a  copy  of  the  proceedings  was  sent  to  *Hugh  Williamson, 
in  New  York,  then  writing  a  history  of  North  Carolina, 
and  that  a  copy  was  sent  to  Gen.  W.  R.  DAVIE.")  Gen. 
Davie  died  shortly  after  the  date  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  let- 
ter; but  this  identical  copy,  known  by  the  writer  of 
these  remarks  to  be  in  the  hand-writing  of  John  McKnitt 
Alexander,  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Mecklenburg 
meeting,  is  now  in  the  Executive  Office  of  this  State.  (See 
Doc fc.  Henderson's  certificate,  B.)  Casivell,  Hooper,  and 
Heives  are  all  dead  ;  but  Capt.  Jack,  who  was  appointed 
to  carry  to  them,  at  Philadelphia,  this  Mecklenburg 
Declaration,  lived  long  enough  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
truth;  and  his  statement  (C)  is  circumstantial,  expli- 
cit and  satisfactory.  If  it  needed  confirmation,  it 
would  be  found  to  be  fully  sustained  by  the  interesting 
communication  (D)  of  the  late  Rev.  Francis  Cummins, 
D.D.,  of  Georgia,  to  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  Macon.  More 

*  This  copy  the  writer  well  recollects  to  have  seen  in  the  pos- 
session of  Doct.  Williamson,  in  the  year  1793,  in  Fayetteville, 
together  with  a  letter  to  him  from  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  and 
to  have  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject.  Why  it  is  not  men- 
tioned in  his  History,  is  not  strange  to  any  one  who  knows  the 
State,  and  has  read  the  book.  It  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  history 
of  any  country.  The  memorable  Report  and  Resolutions  of  the 
Congress  of  April,  1776,  are  alike  unnoticed.  A  correct  and  sat- 
isfactory account  of  both  proceedings  will  be  found  in  the  last 
chapter  of  Martin's  History  of  North  Carolina. 


APPENDIX.  123 

satisfactory  evidence,  drawn  from  more  respectable 
sources,  Mr.  Jefferson,  if  alive,  could  not,  and  would  not 
require.  It  is  not  hazarding  too  much  to  say,  that  there 
is  no  one  event  of  the  Revolution  which  has  been,  or  can 
be  more  fully  or  clearly  authenticated. 

It  is.  perhaps,  needless  to  multiply  proofs,  or  to  ex- 
tend this  article.  Col.  William  Polk  is  a  resident  of 
this  city,  a  venerable  remnant  of  the  Revolutionary  stock, 
has  passed  the  common  boundary  of  human  life,  and  in 
a  green  old  age,  is  in  the  full  possession  of  his  faculties. 
His  compatriots,  Caswell,  and  Hooper,  and  Hewes,  are 
dead,  but  he  lives,  was  present,  heard  his  father  proclaim 
the  Declaration  to  the  assembled  multitude  ;  and  need  it 
be  inquired,  in  any  portion  of  this  Union,  if  he  will  be 
believed  ? 

The  letter  (E)  of  Gen.  Joseph  Graham,  another  sur- 
viving officer  of  the  Revolution,  a  citizen  and  a  soldier 
worthy  of  the  best  days  of  the  Republic,  will  be  read 
with  pleasure  and  perfect  confidence  throughout  the 
wide  range  of  his  acquaintance. 

The  extract  from  the  memoir  of  the  late  Rev.  Hum- 
phrey Hunter  (F),  of  Lincoln,  is  equally  explicit,  full 
and  satisfactory.  He,  with  several  other  respectable 
gentlemen,  whose  statements  are  appended,  was  an  eye- 
witness of  what  he  relates  ;  and  the  combined  testimony 
of  all  these  individuals  prove  the  existence  of  the 
Mecklenburg  Declaration,  and  all  the  circumstances 
connected  with  it,  as  fully  and  clearly  as  any  fact  can 
be  shown  by  human  testimony. 

The  following  extract  from  "The  Journal  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  North  Carolina,  held  at  Halifax, 
on  the  4th  April,  1776"  (pp.  11,  12),  shows  that  the  first 
h'(/i,4ative  recommendation  of  a  DECLARATION  OF  INDE- 


121  APPENDIX. 

PENDENCE  by  the  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS,  originated 
likewise  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  It  is  worthy 
of  remark,  that  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  the  Secretary 
of  the  meeting,  Waightstill  Avery,  John  Pfifer  and 
Robert  Invin,  who  were  conspicuous  actors  in  the  pro- 
ceedings in  Mecklenburg,  were  active  and  influential 
members  of  this  Provincial  Congress. 

"  The  select  committee  to  take  into  consideration  the 
usurpations  and  violences  attempted  and  committed  by 
the  King  and  Parliament  of  Britain  against  America,  and 
the  further  measures  to  be  taken  for  frustrating  the 
same,  and  for  the  better  defence  of  this  Province,  re- 
ported as  follows,  to  wit : 

"It  appears  to  your  committee, that  pursuant  to  the 
plan  concerted  by  the  British  Ministry  for  subjugating 
America,  the  King  and  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  have 
usurped  a  power  over  the  persons  and  properties  of  the 
people  unlimited  and  uncontrolled;  and  disregarding 
their  humble  petitions  of  peace,  liberty,  and  safety,  have 
made  divers  legislative  acts,  denouncing  war,  famine, 
and  every  species  of  calamity,  against  the  Continent  in 
general.  The  British  fleets  and  armies  have  been,  and 
still  are  daily  employed  in  destroying  the  people,  and 
committing  the  most  horrid  devastations  on  the  coun- 
try. That  Grovernors  in  different  Colonies  have  de- 
clared protection  to  slaves  who  should  imbrue  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  their  masters.  That  the  ships 
belonging  to  America  are  declared  prizes  of  war,  and 
many  of  them  have  been  violently  seized  and  confisca- 
ted. In  consequence  of  all  which  multitudes  of  the 
people  have  been  destroyed,  or  from  easy  circumstances 
reduced  to  the  most  lamentable  distress. 


APPENDIX.  1 25 

"And  whereas  the  moderation  hitherto  manifested 
by  the  United  Colonies,  and  their  sincere  desire  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  mother  country  on  constitutional  prin- 
ciples, have  procured  no  mitigation  of  the  aforesaid 
wrongs  and  usurpations,  and  no  hopes  remain  of  ob- 
taining redress  by  those  means  alone  which  have  been 
hitherto  tried,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the 
House  should  enter  into  the  following  resolve,  to  wit: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  DELEGATES  FOR  THIS  COLONY 
IN  THE  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  BE  IMPOWERED  TO 
CONCUR  WITH  THE  DELEGATES  OF  THE  OTHER  COLO- 
NIES  IN  DECLARING  INDEPENDENCY,  AND  FORMING 
FOREIGN  ALLIANCES,  reserving  to  this  Colony  the  sole 
and  exclusive  right  of  forming  a  Constitution  and  laws 
for  this  Colony,  and  of  appointing  Delegates  from  time 
to  time  (under  the  direction  of  a  general  representation 
thereof),  to  meet  the  Delegates  of  the  other  Colonies, 
for  such  purposes  as  shall  be  hereafter  pointed  out. 

"  The  Congress  .taking  the  same  into  consideration, 
unanimously  concurred  therewith." 

The  striking  similarity  of  expression  in  the  conclud- 
ing sentences  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  and  the 
Declaration  by  Congress  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  has 
been  repeatedly  urged  and  relied  upon  as  disproving 
the  authenticity  of  the  former.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  reply  to  this  suggestion.  It  is  not  very  strange 
that  men  who  think  alike  should  speak  alike  upon  the 
same  subject,  more  especially  when  high-toned  patriotic 
feeling  seeks  for  utterance.  This  similarity  of  expres- 
sion is  not  confined,  however,  to  these  two  papers.  A 
comparison  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  with  the  Dec- 
laration, as  drawn  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  will  satisfy  the 


126  APPENDIX. 

most  credulous  upon  this  subject.  Who  suspects  Mr. 
Jefferson  of  intentional  plagiarism?  and  yet  he  might 
be  charged  with  having  appropriated  the  language  of 
the  Provincial  Legislature,  with  at  least  as  much  pro- 
priety as  Mr.  Alexander  with  having  forged  the  Meck- 
lenburg Declaration.  The  sentiments  embodied  by  Mr. 
Jefferson  were  not  peculiar  to  himself,  but  adopted  by 
him  as  expressive  of  the  common  feeling  in  the  common 
language  of  that  eventful  period. 


ADOPTED  BY  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  AT  THE  SESSION 
OF  1830-31,  UPON  WHICH  THIS  PUBLICATION  IS 
PREDICATED. 

THE  committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  to  examine, 
collate  and  arrange  in  proper  order  such  parts  of  the 
Journals  of  the  Provincial  Assemblies  of  North  Caro- 
lina, as  relate  to  the  Declaration  of  American  Independ- 
ence ;  also  such  documents  as  relate  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  made  by  the  patriotic  men  of  Mecklen- 
burg in"  May,  1775 ;  and  also  such  measures  as  relate  to 
the  same  cause,  adopted  by  the  freemen  of  Cumberland 
county,  previous  to  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  in  order  to 
the  publication  and  distribution  of  sncli  documents, 
having  performed  the  duty  assigned  them,  respectfully 
report : 

That  upon  an  attentive  examination  of  the  Journals 
of  the  Provincial  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  which 
met  at  Halifax  in  the  month  of  April,  1776,  the  com- 
mittee are  of  opinion,  that  no  selection  could  be  made 


APPENDIX.  127 

from  the  said  Journal  to  answer  the  purpose  of  the 
House.  But  as  everything  relating  to  that  period 
must  be  interesting  to  those  who  value  the  blessing  of 
national  independence,  the  committee  recommend  that 
the  whole  of  the  Journal  be  printed,  and  receive  the 
same  extended  distribution  which  the  resolution  of  the 
House  contemplates  for  the  proceedings  in  Mecklen- 
burg and  Cumberland.  This  course  is  deemed  by  the 
committee  the  more  proper,  because  the  Journal  is  now 
out  of  print,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  copy  in 
the  possession  of  the  committee  is  the  only  one  now 
extant. 

Your  committee  have  also  examined,  collated,  and  ar- 
ranged all  the  documents  which  have  been  accessible 
to  them,  touching  the  Declaration  of  Independence  by 
the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg,  and  the  proceedings  of  the 
freemen  of  Cumberland. 

By  the  publication  of  these  papers,  it  will  be  fully 
verified,  that  us  early  as  the  month  of  May,  1775,  a  por- 
tion of  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  sensible  that  their 
wrongs  could  no  longer  be  borne,  without  sacrificing 
both  safety  and  honor,  and  that  redress  so  often  sought, 
so  patiently  waited  for,  and  so  cruelly  delayed,  was  no 
longer  to  be  expected,  did,  by  a  public  and  solemn  act, 
declare  the  dissolution  of  the  ties  which  bound  them  to 
the  crown  and  people  of  Great  Britain,  and  did  estab- 
lish an  independent,  though  temporary  government  for 
their  own  control  and  direction. 

The  first  claim  of  Independence  evinces  such  high 
sentiments  of  valor  and  patriotism,  that  we  cannot,  and 
ought  not,  lightly  to  esteem  the  honor  of  having  made 
it.  The  fact  of  the  Declaration  should  be  announced, 
its  language  should  be  published  and  perpetuated,  and 


128  APPENDIX. 

the  names  of  the  gallant  representatives  of  Mecklen- 
burg, with  whom  it  originated,  should  be  preserved 
from  an  oblivion,  which,  should  it  involve  them,  would 
as  much  dishonor  us,  as  injure  them.  If  the  thought 
of  Independence  did  not  first  occur  to  them,  to  them, 
at  least,  belongs  the  proud  distinction  of  having  first 
given  language  to  the  thought;  and  it  should  be 
known,  and,  fortunately,  it  can  still  be  conclusively  es- 
tablished, that  the  Revolution  received  it  first  impulse 
towards  Independence,  however  feeble  that  impulse 
might  have  been,  in  North  Carolina.  The  committee 
are  aware  that  this  assertion  has  elsewhere  been  received 
with  doubt,  and  at  times  met  with  denial ;  and  it  is, 
therefore,  believed  to  be  more  strongly  incumbent  upon 
the  House  to  usher  to  the  world  the  Mecklenburg  Dec- 
laration, accompanied  with  such  testimonials  of  its 
genuineness,  as  shall  silence  incredulity,  and  with  such 
care  for  its  general  diffusion,  as  shall  forever  secure  it. 
from  being  forgotten.  And  in  recounting  the  causes, 
the  origin  and  the  progress  of  our  Revolutionary  strug- 
gle, till  its  final  issue  in  acknowledged  independence, 
whatever  the  brilliant  achievements  of  other  States  may 
have  been,  let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  at  a  period  of 
darkness  and  oppression,  without  concert  with  others, 
without  assurances  of  support  from  any  quarter,  a  few 
gallant  North  Carolinians,  all  fear  of  consequences  lost 
in  a  sense  of  their  country's  wrongs,  relying,  under 
Heaven,  solely  upon  themselves,  nobly  dared  to  assert, 
and  resolved  to  maintain,  that  independence,  of  which, 
whoever  might  have  thought,  none  had  then  spoken ; 
and  thus  earned  for  themselves,  and  for  their  fellow- 
citizens  of  North  Carolina,  the  honor  of  giving  birth 
to  the  first  Declaration  of  Independence. 


APPENDIX.  129 

The  committee  respectfully  recommend  the  adoption 
of  the  following  resolutions.       , 
All  of  which  is  submitted. 

TIIOS.  G.  POLK,  ChrX 
JOHN  BRAGG, 
EVAN  ALEXANDER, 
LOUIS  D.  HENRY, 
ALEX.  M'NEILL. 

Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the  Governor  be  di- 
rected to  cause  to  be  published  in  pamphlet  form  the 
above  Report  and  the  accompanying  documents,  in  the 
manner  and  order  following,  viz.  :  AfDer  the  Report, 
first,  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  with  the  names  of 
the  Delegates  composing  the  meeting ;  second,  the  Cer- 
tificates, testifying  to  the  circumstances  attending  the 
Declaration ;  third,  the  proceedings  of  the  Cumberland 
Association.  And  that  he  be  further  directed  to  have 
reprinted,  in  like  manner,  separate  and  distinct  from 
the  above,  the  accompanying  Journal  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly,  held  at  Halifax  in  1776. 

Resolved  further,  That  after  publication,  the  Govern- 
or be  instructed  to  distribute  said  documents  as  follows, 
to  wit:  Twenty  copies  of  each  to  the  Library  of  the 
State ;  to  each  of  the  Libraries  at  the  University,  ten 
copies ;  to  the  Library  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  ten  copies  ;  and  one  copy  to  each  of  the  Execu- 
tives of  the  several  States  of  the  Union. 


130  APPENDIX. 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

May  20,  1775. 
NAMES  OF  THE  DELEGATES  PRESENT. 

COL.  THOMAS  POLK,  JNO.  M'KNITT  ALEXANDER, 

EPHRATM  BREVARD,  HEZEKIAH  ALEXANDER, 

HEZEKIAH  J.  BALCH,  ADAM  ALEXANDER, 

JOHN  PHIFER,  CHARLES  ALEXANDER, 

JAMES  HARRIS,  ZACHEUS  WILSON,  Sen., 

WILLIAM  KENNON,  WAIGHTSTILL  AVERY, 

JOHN  FOBD,  BENJAMIN  PATTON, 

KICHARD  BARRY,  MATTHEW  M'CLURE, 

HENRY  DOWNS,  NEIL  MORRISON, 

EZRA  ALEXANDER,  ROBERT  IRWIN, 

WILLIAM  GRAHAM,  JOHN  FLENNIKEN, 

JOHN  QUEARY,  DAVID  EEESE, 
ABRAHAM  ALEXANDER,       KICHARD  HARRIS,  Sen. 

ABRAHAM  ALEXANDER,  was  appointed  Chairman, 
and  JOHN  M'KNITT  ALEXANDER,  Clerk.  The  follow- 
ing resolutions  were  offered,  viz. : 

1st.  Resolved,  That  whosoever  directly  or  indirectly 
abetted,  or  in  any  way,  form,  or  manner,  countenanced 
the  unchartered  and  dangerous  invasion  of  our  rights, 
as  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy  to  this  coun- 
try, to  America,  and  to  the  inherent  and  inalienable 
rights  of  man. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  do  hereby  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have 
connected  us  to  the  mother  country,  and  hereby  absolve 
ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and 
abjure  all  political  connection,  contract,  or  association, 


APPENDIX.  131 

with  that  nation,  who  have  wantonly  trampled  on  our 
rights  and  liberties,  and  inhumanly  shed  the  blood  of 
American  patriots  at  Lexington. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  a 
free  and  independent  people;  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  a  sovereign  and  self-governing  Association,  under 
the  control  of  no  power  other  than  that  of  our  God  and 
the  general  government  of  the  Congress  ;  to  the  main- 
tenance of  which  independence,  we  solemnly  pledge  to 
each  other  our  mutual  co-operation,  our  lives,  our  for- 
tunes, and  our  most  sacred  honor. 

4th.  Resolved,  That  as  we  now  acknowledge  the  exist- 
ence and  control  of  no  law  or  legal  officer,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, within  this  county,  we  do  hereby  ordain  and 
adopt  as  a  rule  of  life,  all,  each  and  every  of  our  former 
laws, — wherein,  nevertheless,  the  Crown  of  Great  Bri- 
tain never  can  be  considered  as  holding  rights,  privil- 
eges, immunities,  or  authority  therein. 

5th.  Resolved,  That  it  is  further  decreed,  that  all, 
each  and  every  military  officer  in  this  county,  is  hereby 
reinstated  in  his  former  command  and  authority,  he 
acting  conformably  to  these  regulations.  And  that 
every  member  present,  of  this  delegation,  shall  hence- 
forth be  a  civil  officer,  viz.,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in 
the  character  of  a  "  Committee-man,7'  to  issue  process, 
hear  and  determine  all  matters  of  controversy,  accord- 
ing to  said  adopted  laws,  and  to  preserve  peace,  union 
and  harmony  in  said  county; — and  to  use  every  exertion 
to  spread  the  love  of  country  and  fire  of  freedom 
throughout  America,  until  a  more  general  and  organ- 
ized government  be  established  in  this  province. 

After  discussing  the  foregoing  resolves,  and  arranging 
bye-laws  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  a  Stand- 


132  APPENDIX. 

ing  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  who  were  selected  from 
these  delegates,  the  whole  proceedings  were  unani- 
mously adopted  and  signed.  A  select  committee  was 
then  appointed  to  draw  a  more  full  and  definite  state- 
ment of  grievances,  and  a  more  formal  Declaration  of 
Independence.  The  Delegation  then  adjourned  about 
2  o'clock,  A.M.,  May  20. 


A. 

PKOM  THE  EALEIGH  KEGISTER   OF  APKIL  30,  1819. 

IT  is  not,  probably,  known  to  many  of  our  readers, 
that  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg  county,  in  this  State, 
made  a  Declaration  of  Independence  more  than  a  year 
before  Congress  made  theirs.  The  following  document 
on  the  subject  has  lately  come  to  the  hands  of  the  Edi- 
tor from  unquestionable  authority,  and  is  published 
that  it  may  go  down  to  posterity. 

NORTH  CAROLINA,  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY,  ) 
May  20,  1775.     ) 

In  the  spring  of  1775,  the  leading  characters  of  Meck- 
lenburg county,  stimulated  by  that  enthusiastic  patri- 
otism which  elevates  the  mind  above  considerations  of 
individual  aggrandizement,  and  scorning  to  shelter 
themselves  from  the  impending  storm  by  submission  to 
lawless  power,  etc.,  etc.,  held  several  detached  meetings, 
in  each  of  which  the  individual  sentiments  were,  "  that 
the  cause  of  Boston  was  the  cause  of  all;  that  their  des- 
tinies were  indissolubly  connected  with  those  of  their 
Eastern  fellow-citizens — and  that  they  must  either  sub- 
mit to  all  the  impositions  which  an  unprincipled,  and 


APPENDIX.  133 

to  them  an  unrepresented,  Parliament  might  impose — or 
support  their  brethren  who  were  doomed  to  sustain  the 
first  shock  of  that  power,  which,  if  successful  there, 
would  ultimately  overwhelm  all  in  the  common  calami- 
ty." Conformably  to  these  principles,  Colonel  T.  Polk, 
through  solicitation,  issued  an  order  to  each  Captain's 
company  in  the  county  of  Mecklenburg,  (then  compris- 
ing the  present  county  of  Cabarrus,)  directing  each  mili- 
tia company  to  elect  two  persons,  and  delegate  to  them, 
ample  power  to  devise  ways  and  means  to  aid  and 
assist  their  suffering  brethren  in  Boston,  and  also 
generally  to  adopt  measures  to  extricate  themselves 
from  the  impending  storm,  and  to  secure  unimpaired 
their  inalienable  rights,  privileges  and  liberties,  from 
the  dominant  grasp  of  British  imposition  and  tyranny. 
In  conformity  to  said  order,  on  the  19th  of  .May, 
1775,  the  said  delegation  met  in  Charlotte,  vested  with 
unlimited  powers;  at  which  time  official  news,  by  ex- 
press, arrived  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  on  that  day  of 
the  preceding  month.  Every  delegate  felt  the  value  and 
importance  of  the  prize,  and  the  awful  and  solemn  cri- 
sis which  had  arrived — every  bosom  swelled  with  indig- 
nation at  the  malice,  inveteracy,  and  insatiable  revenge, 
developed  in  the  late  attack  at  Lexington.  The  univer- 
sal sentiment  was  :  let  us  not  flatter  ourselves  that  popu- 
lar harangues,  or  resolves  ;  that  popular  vapour  will  avert 
the  storm,  or  vanquish  our  common  enemy — let  us  de- 
liberate— let  us  calculate  the  issue — the  probable  result; 
and  then  let  us  act  with  energy,  as  brethren  leagued  to 
preserve  our  property — our  lives — and  what  is  still  more 
endearing,  the  liberties  of  America.  Abraham  Alexan- 
der was  then  elected  Chairman,  and  John  M'Knitt 
Alexander,  Clerk.  After  a  free  and  full  discussion  of 


134:  APPENDIX. 

the  various  objects  for  which  the  delegation  had  been 
convened,  it  was  unanimously  ordained — 

1.  Resolved,   That    whoever    directly    or    indirectly 
abetted,  or  in  any  way,  form,  or  manner,  countenanced 
the  unchartered  and  dangerous  invasion  of  our  rights, 
as  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy  to  this  coun- 
try-— to  America — and  to  the  inherent  and  inalienable 
rights  of  man. 

2.  Resolved,    That  we  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  do  hereby  dissolve  the  political  bands  which 
have  connected  us  to  the  Mother  Country,  and  hereby 
absolve   ourselves   from   all   allegiance   to  the  British 
Crown,  and  abjure  all  political  connection,  contract,  or 
association,  with  that  nation,  who  have  wantonly  tram- 
pled on  our  rights  and  liberties — and  inhumanly  shed 
the  innocent  blood  of  American  patriots  at  Lexington. 

3.  Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  a 
free  and  independent  people,  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  a  sovereign  and  self-governing  Association,  under 
the  control  of  no  power  other  than  that  of  our  God  and 
the  General  Government  of  the  Congress  ;  to  the  main- 
tenance of  which  independence,  we  solemnly  pledge  to 
each  other,  our  mutual  co-operation,  our  lives,  our  for- 
tunes, and  our  most  sacred  honor. 

4.  Resolved,  That  as  we  now  acknowledge  the  exis- 
tence and  control  of  no  law  or  legal  officer,  civil  or 
military,  within  this  county,  we  do  hereby  ordain  and 
adopt,  as  a  rule  of  life,  all,  each  and  every  of  our  former 
laws,  wherein,  nevertheless,  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain 
never  can  be  considered  as  holding  rights,  privileges, 
immunities,  or  authority  therein. 

5.  Re&olved,  That  it  is  also  further  decreed,  that  all, 


APPENDIX.  135 

each  and  every  military  officer  in  this  county,  is  hereby 
reinstated  to  his  former  'command  and  authority,  he 
acting  conformably  to  these  regulations.  And  that  every 
member  present  of  this  delegation  shall  henceforth  be 
a  civil  officer,  viz.,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  "  Committee-man"  to  issue  process,  hear  and 
determine  all  matters  of  controversy,  according  to  said 
adopted  laws,  and  to  preserve  peace,  and  union,  and 
harmony,  in  said  county, — and  to  use  every  exertion  to 
spread  the  love  of  country  and  fire  of  freedom  through- 
out America,  until  a  more  general  and  organized  gov- 
ernment be  established  in  this  province! 

A  number  of  by-laws  were  also  added,  merely  to  pro- 
tect the  association  from  confusion,  and  to  regulate 
their  general  conduct  as  citizens.  After  sitting  in  the 
Court  House  all  night,  neither  sleepy,  hungry,  nor 
fatigued,  and  after  discussing  every  paragraph,  they 
were  all  passed,  sanctioned,  and  decreed,  unanimously, 
about  2  o'clock,  A.M.,  May  20.  In  a  few  days,  a  depu- 
tation of  said  delegation  convened,  when  Capt  James 
Jack,  of  Charlotte,  was  deputed  as  express  to  the  Con- 
gress at  Philadelphia,  with  a  copy  of  said  Resolves  and 
Proceedings,  together  with  a  letter  addressed  to  our 
three  representatives  there,  viz.,  Richard  Caswell,  Wil- 
liam Hooper  and  Joseph  Heives — under  express  in- 
junction, personally,  and  through  the  State  representa- 
tion, to  use  all  possible  means  to  have  said  pro- 
ceedings sanctioned  and  approved  by  the  General 
Congress.  On  the  return  of  Captain  Jack,  the  delega- 
tion learned  that  their  proceedings  were  individually 
approved  by  the  Members  of  Congress,  but  that  it  was 
deemed  premature  to  lay  them  before  the  House.  A 


136  APPENDIX. 

joint  letter  from  said  three  Members  of  Congress  was 
also  received,  complimentary 'of  the  ze.al  in  the  common 
cause,  and  recommending  perseverance,  order  and  energy. 

The  subsequent  harmony,  unanimity,  and  exertion  in 
the  cause  of  liberty  and  independence,  evidently  result- 
ing from  these  regulations  and  the  continued  exertion 
of  said  delegation,  apparently  tranquillized  this  section 
of  the  State,  and  met  with  the  concurrence  and  high 
approbation  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  who  held  their 
sessions  at  Newbern  and  Wilmington,  alternately,  and 
who  confirmed  the  nomination  and  acts  of  the  delega- 
tion in  their  official  capacity. 

From  this  delegation  originated  the  Court  of  Enquiry 
of  this  county,  who  constituted  and  held  their  first  ses- 
sion in  Charlotte — they  then  held  their  meetings  regu- 
larly at  Charlotte,  at  Col.  James  Harris's,  and  at  Col. 
Phifer's,  alternately,  one  week  at  each  place.  It  was  a 
Civil  Court  founded  on  military  process.  Before  this 
Judicature,  all  suspicious  persons  were  made  to  appear, 
who  were  formally  tried  and  banished,  or  continued 
under  guard.  Its  jurisdiction  was  as  unlimited  as  tory- 
ism,  and  its  decrees  as  final  as  the  confidence  and  patri- 
otism of  the  county.  Several  were  arrested  and  brought 
before  them  from  Lincoln,  Eowan  and  the  adjacent 
counties. 

[The  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  papers  on  the 
above  subject,  left  in  my  hands  by  John  McKnitt  Alex- 
ander, dec'd.  I  find  it  mentioned  on  file  that  the  origi- 
nal book  was  burned  April,  1800.  That  a  copy  of  the 
proceedings  was  sent  to  Hugh  Williamson,  in  New 
York,  then  writing  a  History  of  North  Carolina,  and 
that  a  copy  was  sent  to  Gen.  W.  R.  Davie. 

J.  McKNITT.l 


APPENDIX.  137 

B. 

STATE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA,) 

MECKLENBURG  COUNTY.  j 

I,  Samuel  Henderson,  do  hereby  certify,  that  the 
paper  annexed  Avas  obtained  by  me  from  Maj.  William 
Davie  in  its  present  situation,  soon  after  the  death  of 
his  father,  Gen.  William  R.  Davie,  and  given  to  Doct. 
Joseph  McKnitt  by  me.  In  searching  for  some  par- 
ticular paper,  I  came  across  this,  and,  knowing  the 
hand-writing  of  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  took  it  up, 
and  examined  it.  Maj.  Davie  said  to  me  (when  asked 
how  it  became  torn)  his  sisters  had  torn  it,  not  know- 
ing what  it  was. 

Given  under  my  hand,  this  25th  Nov.,  1830. 

SAM.  HENDERSON. 

[NOTE. — To  this  certificate  of  Doct.  Henderson  is  annexed  the 
copy  of  the  paper  A,  originally  deposited  by  John  McKnitt  Alex- 
ander in  the  hands  of  Gen.  Davie,  whose  name  seems  to  have 
been  mistaken  by  Mr.  Jefferson  for  that  of  Gov.  Caswell.  See 
preface,  pages  5  and  6.  This  paper  is  somewhat  torn,  but  is 
entirely  legible,  and  constitutes  the  "  solemn  and  positive  proof 
of  authenticity  "  which  Mr.  Jefferson  required,  and  which  would 
doubtless  have  been  satisfactory,  had  it  been  submitted  to  him.] 


c. 

CAPTAIN  JACK'S  CERTIFICATE. 

Having  seen  in  the  newspapers  some  pieces  respect- 
ing the  Declaration  of  Independence  by  the  people  of 
Mecklenburg  county,  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  in 
May,  1775,  and  being  solicited  to  state  what  I  know  of 
that  transaction  ;  I  would  observe,  that  for  some  time 
previous  to,  and  at  the  time  those  resolutions  were 


138  APPENDIX. 

agreed  upon,  I  resided  in  the  town  of  Charlotte,  Meck- 
lenburg county  ;  was  privy  to  a  number  of  meetings  of 
some  of  the  most  influential  and  leading  characters  of 
that  county  on  the  subject,  before  the  final  adoption  of 
the  resolutions — and  at  the  time  they  were  adopted ; 
among  those  who  appeared  to  take  the  lead,  may  be 
mentioned  Hezekiah  Alexander,  who  generally  acted  as 
Chairman,  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  as  Secretary, 
Abraham  Alexander,  Adam  Alexander,  Maj.  John  Da- 
vidson, Maj.  (afterwards  Gen.)  Wm.  Davidson,  Col. 
Thomas  Polk,  Ezekiel  Polk,  Dr.  Ephraim  Brevard, 
Samuel  Martin,  Duncan  Ochletree,  William  Willson, 
Robert  Irvin. 

When  the  resolutions  were  finally  agreed  on,  they 
were  publicly  proclaimed  from  the  Court-house  door 
in  the  town  of  Charlotte,  and  received  with  every  dem- 
onstration of  joy  by  the  inhabitants. 

I  was  then  solicited  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  proceed- 
ings to  Congress.  I  set  out  the  following  month,  say 
June,  and  in  passing  through  Salisbury,  the  General 
Court  was  sitting — at  the  request  of  the  court  I  handed 
a  copy  of  the  resolutions  to  Col.  Kennon,  an  Attorney, 
and  they  were  read  aloud  in  open  court.  Major  William 
Davidson,  and  Mr.  Avery,  an  attorney,  called  on  me  at 
my  lodgings  the  evening  after,  and  observed,  they  had 
heard  of  but  one  person,  (a  Mr.  Beard)  but  approved 
of  them. 

I  then  proceeded  on  to  Philadelphia,  and  delivered 
the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence  of  May, 
1775,  to  Richard  Caswell  and  William  Hooper,  the 
Delegates  to  Congress  from  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

I  am  now  in  the  eighty-eighth  year  of  my  age,  resid- 
ing in  the  county  of  Elbert,  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  I 


APPENDIX.  139 

was  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  from  the  commence- 
ment to  the  close.  I  would  further  observe,  that  the 
Rev.  Francis  Cummins,  a  Presbyterian  Clergyman,  of 
Greene  county,  in  this  State,  was  a  student  in  the  town 
of  Charlotte  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  resolu- 
tions, and  is  as  well,  or  perhaps  better  acquainted  with 
the  proceedings  at  that  time,  than  any  man  now 
living. 

Col.  William  Polk,  of  Raleigh,  in  North  Carolina, 
was  living  with  his  father  Thomas,  in  Charlotte,  at  the 
time  I  have  been  speaking  of,  and  although  then  too 
young  to  be  forward  in  the  business,  yet  the  leading 
circumstances  I  have  related  cannot  have  escaped  his 
recollection. 

JAMES  JACK. 

Signed  this  7th  Dec.,  1819,  in  presence  of 

JOB  WESTON,   C.  C-0. 
JAMES  OLIVER,  Atto.  at  Law. 


C  2. 

NORTH  CAROLINA,         ) 
Cabarrus  County,  Nov.  29,  1830.  j 

"We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  certify  that  we  have 
frequently  heard  William  S.  Alexander,  dec'd,  say  that 
Jie,  the  said  Wm.  S.  Alexander,  was  at  Philadelphia,  on 
mercantile  business,  in  the  early  part  of  the  summer  of 
1775,  say  in  June;  and  that  on  the  day  that  Gen. 
Washington  left  Philadelphia  to  take  the  command  of 
the  Northern  army,  he,  the  said  Wm.  S.  Alexander,  met 
with  Capt.  James  Jack,  who  informed  him,  the  said 
William  S.  Alexander,  that  he,  the  said  James  Jack, 


140  .  APPENDIX. 

was  there  as  the  agent  or  bearer  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  made  in  Charlotte,  on  the  twentieth  day 
of  May,  seventeen  hundred  and  seven  ty-five,  by  the 
citizens  of  Mecklenburg,  then  including  Cabarrus,  with 
instructions  to  present  the  same  to  the  Delegates  from. 
North  Carolina,  and  by  them  to  be  laid  before  Congress, 
and  which  he  said  he  had  done  ;  in  which  Declaration 
the  aforesaid  citizens  of  Mecklenburg  renounced  their 
allegiance  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  set  up  a 
government  for  themselves,  under  the  title  of  The  Com- 
mittee of  Safety. 

Given  under  our  hands  the  date  above  written. 

ALPHONSO  ALEXANDER, 
AMOS  ALEXANDER, 
J.  McKNITT. 


D. 

Lexington,  (Georgia,}  November  10,  1819. 

DEAR  SIR  : — The  bearer,  the  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Cobb, 
has  suggested  to  me  that  you  had  a  desire  to  know 
something  particularly  of  the  proceedings  of  the  citizens 
of  Mecklenburg  county,  in  North  Carolina,  about  the 
beginning  of  our  Revolutionary  War. 

Previous  to  my  becoming  more  particular,  I  will  sup- 
pose you  remember  the  Regulation  business,  which 
took  its  rise  in  or  before  the  year  1770,  and  issued  and 
ended  in  a  battle,  between  the  Regulators  and  Governor 
Tryon,  in  the  spring  of  1771.  Some  of  the  Regulators 
were  killed,  and  the  whole  dispersed.  The  Regulators' 
conduct  "  was  a  rudis  indigestaque  moles"  as  Ovid  says, 


APPENDIX.  141 

about  the  beginning  of  creation;  but  the  embryotic 
principles  of  the  Revolution  were  in  their  temper  and 
views.  They  wanted  strength,  consistency,  a  Congress 
and  a  Washington  at  their  head.  Tryon  sent  his  offi- 
cers and  minions  through  the  State,  and  imposed  the 
oath  of  allegiance  upon  the  people,  even  as  far  up  as 
Mecklenburg  county.  In  the  year  1775,  after  our  Revo- 
lution began,  the  principal  characters  of  Mecklenburg 
county  met  on  two  sundry  days,  in  Queen's  Museum  in 
Charlotte,  to  digest  Articles  for  a  State  Constitution,  in 
anticipation  that  the  Province  would  proceed  to  do  so. 
In  this  business  the  leading  characters  were,  the  Rev. 
Hezekiah  James  Balch,  a  graduate  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege, an  elegant  scholar;  Waightstill  Avery,  Esq.,  At- 
torney at  Law  ;  Hezekiah  and  John  McKuitt  Alexan- 
der, Esqrs.,Col.  Thomas  Polk,  etc.,  etc. 

Many  men,  and  young  men,  (myself  one,)  before 
magistrates,  abjured  allegiance  to  George  III.,  or  any 
other  foreign  power.  At  length,  in  the  same  year,  1775, 
I  think,  at  least  positively  before  July  4th,  1776,  the 
males  generally  of  that  county  met  on  a  certain  day  in 
Charlotte,  and  from  the  head  of  the  Court-house  stairs 
proclaimed  Independence  on  English  Government,  by 
their  herald  Col.  Thomas  Polk.  I  was  present,  and 
saw  and  heard  it,  and  as  a  young  man,  and  then  a 
student  in  Queen's  Museum,  was  an  agent  in  these 
things.  I  did  not  then,  take  and  keep  the  dates,  and 
cannot,  as  to  date,  be  so  particular  as  I  could  wish. 
Capt.  James  Jack,  then  of  Charlotte,  but  now  of  Elbert 
county,  in  Georgia,  was  sent  with  the  account  of  these 
proceedings  to  Congress,  then  in  Philadelphia — and 
brought  back  to  the  county,  the  thanks  of  Congress  for 
their  zeal — and  the  advice  of  Congress  to  be  a  little 


APPENDIX. 

more  patient,  until  Congress  should  take  the  measures 
thought  to  be  best. 

I  would  suppose,  sir,  that  some  minutes  of  these 
things  must  be  found  among  the  records  of  the  first 
Congress,  that  would  perfectly  settle  their  dates.  I  am 
perfectly  sure,  being  present  at  the  whole  of  them, 
they  were  before  our  National  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

Hon.  Sir,  if  the  above  few  things  can  afford  you  any 
gratification,  it  will  add  to  the  happiness  of  your  friend 
and  humble  servant. 

FKANCIS  CUMMINS. 

HOH.  NATHANIEL  MACON". 


E. 

Vesuvius  Furnace,  ±tli  October,  1830. 

DEAK  SIK, — Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  will  give 
you  the  details  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  as  well  as  I  can  rec- 
ollect after  a  lapse  of  fifty-five  years.  I  was  then  a  lad 
about  half  grown,  was  present  on  that  occasion  (a 
looker  on). 

During  the  Winter  and  Spring  preceding  that  event, 
several  popular  meetings  of  the  people  were  held  in 
Charlotte  ;  two  of  which  I  attended. — Papers  were  read, 
grievances  stated,  and  public  measures  discussed.  As 
printing  was  not  then  common  in  the  South,  the  papers 
were  mostly  manuscript ;  one  or  more  of  which  waa 
from  the  pen  of  the  Eeverend  Doctor  Keese,  (then  of 
Mecklenburg,)  which  met  with  general  approbation, 
and  copies  of  it  circulated.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 


APPENDIX.  143 

those  and  other  papers  published  at  that  period,  and 
the  journal  of  their  proceedings,  are  lost. — They  would 
show  much  of  the  spirit  and  tone  of  thinking  which 
prepared  them  for  the  measures  they  afterwards  adopted. 
On  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  besides  the  two  persons 
elected  from  each  militia  company,  (usually  called 
Committee-men,)  a  much  larger  number  of  citizens  at- 
tended in  Charlotte  than  at  any  former  meeting — per- 
haps half  the  men  in  the  county.  The  news  of  the  bat- 
tle of  Lexington,  the  19th  of  April  preceding,  had 
arrived.  There  appeared  among  the  people  much  ex- 
citement. The  committee  were  organized  in  the  Court- 
house by  appointing  Abraham  Alexander,  Esq.,  Chair- 
man, and  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  Esq.,  Clerk  or  Sec- 
retary to  the  meeting. 

After  reading  a  number  of  papers  as  usual,  and  much 
animated  discussion,  the  question  was  taken,  and  they 
resolved  to  declare  themselves  independent.  One  among 
other  reasons  offered,  that  the  King  or  Ministry 
had,  by  proclamation  or  some  edict,  declared  the  Col- 
onies out  of  the  protection  of  the  British  Crown ;  they 
ought,  therefore,  to  declare  themselves  out  of  his  pro- 
tection, and  resolve  on  independence.  That  their  pro- 
ceedings might  be  in  due  form,  a  sub-committee,  con- 
sisting of  Doctor  Ephraim  Brevard,  a  Mr.  Kennon,  an 
attorney,  and  a  third  person,  whom  I  do  not  recol- 
lect, were  appointed  to  draft  their  Declaration.  They 
retired  from  the  Court-house  for  some  time ;  but  the 
committee  continued  in  session  in  it.  One  circum- 
stance occurred  I  distinctly  remember:  A  member  of 
the  committee,  who  had  said  but  little  before,  addressed 
the  Chairman  as  follows:  "  If  you  resolve  on  independ- 
ence, how  shall  we  all  be  absolved  from  the  obligations  of 


144  APPENDIX. 

the  oath  we  took  to  be  true  to  King  George  the  3d  about 
four  years  ago,  after  the  Regulation  battle,  when  we 
were  sworn  whole  militia  companies  together.  I  should 
be  glad  to  know  how  gentlemen  can  clear  their  con- 
sciences after  taking  that  oath/'  This  speech  produced 
confusion.  The  Chairman  could  scarcely  preserve  order, 
so  many  wished  to  reply.  There  appeared  great  indig- 
nation and  contempt  at  the  speech  of  the  member. 
Some  said  it  was  nonsense ;  others  that  allegiance  and 
protection  were  reciprocal ;  when  protection  was  with- 
drawn, allegiance  ceased ;  that  the  oath  was  only  binding 
while  the  King  protected  us  in  the  enjoyment  of  our 
rights  and  liberties  as  they  existed  at  the  time  it 
was  taken;  which  he  had  not  done,  but  now  declared 
us  out  of  his  protection  ;  therefore  was  not  binding. 
Any  man  who  would  interpret  it  otherwise,  was  a  fool. 
Byway  of  illustration,  (pointing  to  a  green  tree  near 
the  Court-house,)  stated,  if  he  was  sworn  to  do  any 
thing  as  long  as  the  leaves  continued  on  that  tree,  it 
was  so  long  binding;  but  when  the  leaves  fell,  he  was 
discharged  from  its  obligation.  This  was  said  to  be 
certainly  applicable  in  the  present  case.  Out  of  respect 
for  a  worthy  citizen,  long  since  deceased,  and  his  respect- 
able connections,  I  forbear  to  mention  names ;  for, 
though  he  was  a  friend  to  the  cause,  a  suspicion  rested 
on  him  in  the  public  mind  for  some  time  after. 

The  sub-committee  appointed  to  draft  the  resolutions 
returned,  and  Doctor  Ephraim  Brevard  read  their  re- 
port, as  near  as  I  can  recollect,  in  the  very  words  we 
have  since  seen  them  several  times  in  print.  It  was 
unanimously  adopted,  and  shortly  after  it  was  moved 
and  seconded  to  have  proclamation  made  and  the  peo- 
ple collected,  that  the  proceedings  be  read  at  the  Court- 


APPENDIX.  145 

house  door,  in  order  that  all  might  hear  them.  It  was 
done,  and  they  were  received  with  enthusiasm.  It  was 
then  proposed  by  some  one  aloud  to  give  three  cheers  and 
throw  up  their  hats.  It  was  immediately  adopted,  and 
the  hats  thrown.  Several  of  them  lit  on  the  Court- 
house roof.  The  owners  had  some  difficulty  to  reclaim 
them. 

The  foregoing  is  all  from  personal  knowledge.  1  un- 
derstood afterwards  that  Captain  James  Jack,  then  of 
Charlotte,  undertook,  on  the  request  of  the  committee, 
to  carry  a  copy  of  their  proceedings  to  Congress,  which 
then  sat  in  Philadelphia;  and  on  his  way,  at  Salisbury, 
the  time  of  court,  Mr.  Kennon,  who  was  one  of  the  com- 
mittee who  assisted  in  drawing  the  Declaration,  pre- 
vailed on  Captain  Jack  to  get  his  papers,  and  have  them 
read  publicly;  which  was  done,  and  the  proceedings 
met  with  general  approbation.  But  two  of  the  Lawyers, 
John  Dunn  and  a  Mr.  Booth,  dissented,  and  asserted 
they  were  treasonable,  and  endeavored  to  have  Captain 
Jack  detained.  He  drew  his  pistols,  and  threatened  to 
kill  the  first  man  who  would  interrupt  him,  and  passed 
on.  The  news  of  this  reached  Charlotte  in  a  short  time 
after,  and  the  executive  of  the  committee,  whom  they 
had  invested  with  suitable  powers,  ordered  a  party  of 
ten  or  twelve  armed  horsemen  to  bring  said  Lawyers  from 
Salisbury;  when  they  were  brought,  and  the  case  in- 
vestigated before  the  committee.  Dunn,  on  giving 
security  and  making  fair  promises,  was  permitted  to  re- 
turn, and  Booth  was  sentenced  to  go  to  Camden,  in 
South  Carolina,  out  of  the  sphere  of  his  influence.  My 
brother  George  Graham  and  the  late  Col.  John  Carruth 
were  of  the  party  that  went  to  Salisbury;  and  it  is  dis- 
tinctly remembered  that  when  in  Charlotte  they  came 


APPENDIX. 

home  at  night,  in  order  to  provide  for  their  trip  to 
Camden ;  and  that  they  and  two  others  of  the  party 
took  Booth  to  that  place.  This  was  the  first  military 
expedition  from  Mecklenburg  in  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  believed  to  be  the  first  any  where  to  the 
South. 

Yours  respectfully, 

J.  GRAHAM. 
Dr.  Jos.  M'KT.  ALEXANDER, 

Mecklenburg,  N.  Carolina. 


R 

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  MEMOIR  OF  THE  LATE  REV.  HUM- 
PHREY HUNTER. 

Orders  were  presently  issued  by  Col.  Thos.  Polk  to 
the  several  militia  companies,  that  two  men,  selected 
from  each  corps,  should  meet  at  the  Court-house  on  the 
19th  of  May,  1775,  in  order  to  consult  with  each  other 
upon  such  measures  as  might  be  thought  best  to  be 
pursued.  Accordingly,  on  said  day  a  far  larger  number 
than  two  out  of  each  company  were  present.  There  wa8 
some  difficulty  in  choosing  the  commissioners.  To 
have  chosen  all  thought  to  be  worthy,  would  have  ren- 
dered t}ie  meeting  too  numerous.  The  following  were 
selected,  and  styled  Delegates,  and  are  here  given,  ac- 
cording to  my  best  recollection,  as  they  were  placed  on 
roll :  Abram  Alexander,  sen'r,  Thomas  Pclk,  Rich'd 
Harris,  sen'r,  Adam  Alexander,  Richard  Barry,  John 
McKnit  Alexander,  Neil  Morison,  Hezekiah  Alexan- 
der, Hezekiah  J.  Balch,  Zacheus  Wilson,  John  Phifer, 
James  Harris,  William  Kennon,  John  Ford,  Henry 
Downs,  Ezra  Alexander,  William  Graham,  John  Queary, 
Chas.  Alexander.  Waightstill  Avery,  Ephraim  Brevard, 


APPENDIX.  147 

Benjamin  Patton,  Matthew  McClure,  Robert  Invin, 
John  Flenniken,  and  David  Reese. 

Abram  Alexander  was  nominated,  and  unanimously 
voted  to  the  Chair.  John  McKnit  Alexander  and 
Ephraim  Brevard  were  chosen  Secretaries.  The  Chair 
being  occupied,  and  the  Clerks  seated,  the  House  was 
called  to  order  and  proceeded  to  business.  Then  a  full, 
a  free,  and  dispassionate  discussion  obtained  on  the 
various  subjects  for  which  the  delegation  had  been  con- 
vened, and  the  following  resolutions  were  unanimously 
ordained: 

1st.  Resolved,  That  whosoever  directly  or  indirectly 
abetted,  or  in  any  way,  form  or  manner,  countenanced 
the  uncharteredand  dangerous  invasion  of  our  rights,  as 
claimed  by  Great  Britain,  is  an  enemy  to  this  country, 
to  America,  and  to  the  inherent  and  inalienable  rights 
of  man. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  we,  the  citizens  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  do  hereby  dissolve  the  political  bands  which 
have  connected  us  to  the  mother  country,  and  hereby 
absolve  ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
Crown,  and  abjure  all  political  connection,  contract,  or 
association,  with  that  nation,  who  have  wantonly  tram- 
pled on  our  rights  and  liberties,  and  inhumanly  shed 
the  blood  of  American  patriots  at  Lexington. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  we  do  hereby  declare  ourselves  a 
free  and  independent  people;  are,  and  of  right  ought  to 
be,  a  sovereign  and  self-governing  Association,  under 
the  control  of  no  power  other  than  that  of  our  God  and 
the  general  government  of  the  Congress  ;  to  the  mainten- 
ance of  which  independence,  we  solemnly  pledge  to  each 
other  our  mutual  co-operation,  our  lives,  our  fortunes, 
and  our  most  sacred  honor. 


148  APPENDIX. 

4th.  Resolved,  That  as  we  now  acknowledge  the  exist- 
ence and  control  of  no  law  or  legal  officer,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, within  this  county,  we  do  hereby  ordain  and  adopt 
as  a  rule  of  life,  all,  each  and  every  of  our  former  laws, 
— wherein,  nevertheless,  the  crown  of  Great  Britain 
never  can  be  considered  as  holding  rights,  privileges, 
immunities  or  authority  therein. 

5th.  Resolved,  That  it  is  further  decreed,  that  all, 
each  and  every  military  officer  in  this  county,  is  hereby 
reinstated  in  his  former  command  and  authority,  he 
acting  conformably  to  these  regulations.  And  that  every 
member  present,  of  this  delegation,  shall  henceforth  be 
a  civil  officer,  viz.,  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  in  the  charac- 
ter of  a  "  Committee-man"  to  issue  process,  hear  and 
determine  all  matters  of  controversy,  according  to  said 
adopted  laws,  and  to  preserve  peace,  union  and  harmony 
in  said  county ; — and  to  use  every  exertion  to  spread 
the  love  of  country  and  fire  of  freedom  throughout 
America,  until  a  more  general  and  organized  govern- 
ment be  established  in  this  province. 

Those  resolves  having  been  concurred  in,  bye-laws  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  a  standing  Commit- 
tee of  Public  Safety  were  enacted  and  acknowledged. 
Then  a  select  committee  was  appointed,  to  report  on 
the  ensuing  day  a  full  and  definite  statement  of  griev-. 
ances,  together  with  a  more  correct  and  formal  draft  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The  proceedings 
having  been  thus  arranged  and  somewhat  in  readiness 
for  promulgation,  the  Delegation  then  adjourned  until 
to-morrow,  at  12  o'clock. 

The  20th  of  May,  at  12  o'clock,  the  Delegation, 
as  above,  had  convened.  The  select  committee  were 
also  present,  and  reported  agreeably  to  instructions,  viz. 


APPENDIX.  149 

a  statement  of  grievances  and  formal  draft  of  the  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  written  by  Ephraim  Brevard, 
chairman  of  said  committee,  and  read  by  him  to  the 
Delegation.  The  resolves,  bye-laws  and  regulations  were 
read  by  John  McKnitt  Alexander.  It  was  then  an- 
nounced from  the  Chair,  are  you  all  agreed  ?  There 
was  not  a  dissenting  voice.  Finally,  the  whole  proceed- 
ings were  read  distinctly  and  audibly,  at  the  Court- 
house door,  by  Col.  Thomas  Polk,  to  a  large,  respectable 
and  approving  assemblage  of  citizens,  who  were  present, 
and  gave  sanction  to  the  business  of  the  day.  A  copy 
of  all  those  transactions  were  then  drawn  off,  and  given 
in  charge  to  Capt.  James  Jack,  then  of  Charlotte,  that 
he  should  present  them  to  Congress,  then  in  session  in 
Philadelphia. 

On  that  memorable  day,  I  was  20  years  and  14  days 
of  age,  a  very  deeply  interested  spectator,  recollecting 
the  dire  hand  of  oppression  that  had  driven  me  from 
my  native  clime,  now  pursuing  me  in  this  happy  asy- 
lum, and  seeking  to  bind  again  in  the  fetters  of  bond- 
age. 

On  the  return  of  Capt.  Jack,  he  reported  that  Con- 
gress, individually,  manifested  their  entire  approbation 
of  the  conduct  of  the  Mecklenburg  citizens ;  but 
deemed  it  premature  to  lay  them  officially  before  the 
House. 

NOTE. — The  foregoing  extract  is  copied  from  a  manuscript 
account  of  the  Revolutionary  War  in  the  South,  addressed  by 
the  writer  to  a  friend,  who  had  requested  historical  information 
upon  the  subject.  Mr.  Hunter  was  in  the  battle  of  Camden,  and 
has  given  an  interesting  narrative  of  the  circumstances  connect- 
ed  with  the  death  of  Baron  DeKalb.  The  manuscript  gives  the 
biography  of  the  writer,  from  which  it  appears  he  was  a  native 


150  APPENDIX. 

of  Ireland,  and  born  on  the  14th  of  May,  1755,  and  at  an  early  age 
emigrated  from  his  native  land  to  the  Province  of  North 
Carolina. 


ADDITIONAL    PAPERS, 

NOT  PARTICULAKLY  KEFEEKED  TO  IK  THE  PKEFACB. 


From  the  Raleigh  Register,  of  February  18,  1820. 

MECKLENBURG     DECLARATION    OF     INDE- 
PENDENCE. 

When  this  Declaration  was  first  published  in  April 
last,  some  doubts  were  expressed  in  the  Eastern  papers 
as  to  its  authenticity,  (none  of  the  Histories  of  the 
Revolution  having  noticed  the  circumstance.)  Col. 
William  Polk,  of  this  City,  (who,  though  a  mere  youth 
at  the  time,  was  present  at  the  meeting  which  made  the 
Declaration,  and  whose  Father,  being  Colonel  of  the 
county,  appears  to  have  acted  a  conspicuous  part  on  the 
occasion,)  observing  this,  assured  us  of  the  correctness 
of  the  facts  generally,  though  he  thought  there  were 
errors  as  to  the  name  of  the  Secretary,  etc.,  and  said  that 
he  should  probably  be  able  to  correct  these,  and  throw 
some  further  light  on  the  subject,  by  inquiries  amongst 
some  of  his  old  friends  in  Mecklenburg  county.  He 
has  accordingly  made  inquiries,  and  communicated  to 
us  the  following  Documents  as  the  result,  which,  we 
presume,  will  do  away  all  doubts  on  the  subject. 


APPENDIX.  151 

CERTIFICATE. 

STATE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA, ) 

MECKLEXBUKG  COUNTY.  j 

At  the  request  of  Col.  William  Polk,  of  Raleigh,  made 
to  Major-General  George  Graham,  soliciting  him  to  pro- 
cure all  the  information  that  could  be  obtained  at  this 
late  period,  of  the  transactions  which  took  place  in  the 
county  of  Mecklenburg,  in  the  year  1775,  as  it  respected 
the  people  of  that  county  having  declared  Independ- 
ence ;  of  the  time  when  the  Declaration  was  made ; 
who  were  the  principal  movers  and  leaders,  and  the 
members  who  composed  the  body  of  Patriots  who  made 
the  Declaration,  and  signed  the  same. 

We,  the  undersigned  citizens  of  the  said  county,  and 
of  the  several  ages  set  forth  opposite  to  each  of  our 
names,  do  certify,  and  on  our  honor  declare,  that  we 
were  present  in  the  town  of  Charlotte,  in  the  said  county 
of  Mecklenburg,  on  the  19th  day  of  May,  1775,  when  two 
persons  elected  from  each  Captain's  Company  in  said 
county,  appeared  as  Delegates,  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  state  of  the  country,  and  to  adopt  such  meas- 
ures as  to  them  seemed  best,  to  secure  their  lives,  liberty, 
and  property,  from  the  storm  which  was  gathering,  and 
had  burst  upon  their  fellow-citizens  to  the  Eastward, 
by  a  British  Army,  under  the  authority  of  the  British 
King  and  Parliament. 

The  order  for  the  election  of  Delegates  was  given  by 
Col.  Thomas  Polk,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  mili- 
tia of  the  county,  with  a  request  that  their  powers 
should  be  ample,  touching  any  measure  that  should  be 
proposed. 

We  do  further  certify  and  declare,  that  to  the  best  of 


152  APPENDIX. 

our  recollection  and  belief,  the  delegation  was  complete 
from  every  company,  and  that  the  meeting  took  place 
in  the  Court-house,  about  12  o'clock  on  the  said  19th 
day  of  May,  1775,  when  Abraham  Alexander  was  chosen 
Chairman,  and  Dr.  Ephraim  Brward  Secretary.  That 
the  Delegates  continued  in  session  until  in  the  night  of 
that  day ;  that  on  the  20th  they  again  met,  when  a  com- 
mittee, under  the  direction  of  the  Delegates,  had  formed 
several  resolves,  which  were  read,  and  which  went  to 
declare  themselves,  and  the  people  of  Mecklenburg 
county,  Free  and  Independent  of  the  King  and  Parlia- 
ment of  Great  Britain — and  that,  from  that  day  thence- 
forth, all  allegiance  and  political  relation  was  absolved 
between  the  good  people  of  Mecklenburg  and  the  King 
of  Great  Britain  ;  Avlrich  Declaration  Avas  signed  by 
every  member  of  the  Delegation,  under  the  shouts  and 
huzzas  of  a  very  large  assembly  of  the  people  of  the 
county,  who  had  come  to  know  the  issue  of  the  meet- 
ing. We  further  believe,  that  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  drawn  up  by  the  Secretary,  Dr.  Ephraim 
Brevard,  and  that  it  was  conceived  and  brought  about 
through  the  instrumentality  and  popularity  of  Col. 
Thomas  Polk,  Abraham  Alexander,  John  McKnit  Alex- 
ander, Adam  Alexander,  Ephraim  Brevard,  John  Phi- 
fer,  and  Hezekiah  Alexander,  with  some  others. 

We  do  further  certify  and  declare,  that  in  a  few  days 
after  the  Delegates  adjourned,  Captain  James  Jack,  of 
the  town  of  Charlotte,  was  engaged  to  carry  the  resolves 
to  the  President  of  Congress,  and  to  our  Representatives 
— one  copy  for  each  ;  and  that  his  expenses  were  paid  by 
a  voluntary  subscription.  And  we  do  knoAV  that  Capt. 
Jack  executed  the  trust,  and  returned  with  answers, 
both  from  the  President  and  our  Delegates  in  Congress, 


APPENDIX.  153 

expressive  of  their  entire  approbation  of  the  course  that 
had  been  adopted,  recommending  a  continuance  in  the 
same ;  and  that  the  time  would  soon  be,  when  the  whole 
Continent  would  follow  our  example. 

We  further  certify  and  declare,  that  the  measures 
which  were  adopted  at  the  time  before  mentioned,  had 
a  general  influence  on  the  people  of  this  county  to 
unite  them  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  the  country,  at 
that  time;  that  the  same  unanimity  and  patriotism 
continued  unimpaired  to  the  close  of  the  war;  and  that 
the  resolutions  had  considerable  effect  in  harmonizing 
the  people  in  two  or  three  adjoining  counties. 

That  a  committee  of  .Safety  for  the  county  were  elected, 
who  were  clothed  with  civil  and  military  power,  and 
under  their  authority  several  disaffected  persons  in 
Rowan,  and  Tryon  (now  Lincoln  county,)  were  sent  for, 
examined,  and  conveyed  (after  it  was  satisfactorily 
proven  they  were  inimical)  to  Camden,  in  South  Caro- 
lina, for  safe-keeping. 

We  do  further  certify,  that  the  acts  passed  by  the 
committee  of  Safety,  were  received  as  the  Civil  Law  of 
the  land  in  many  cases,  and  that  Courts  of  Justice  for 
the  decision  of  controversies  between  the  people  were 
held,  and  we  have  no  recollection  that  dissatisfaction 
existed  in  any  instance  with  regard  to  the  judgments  of 
said  courts. 

We  are  not,  at  this  late  period,  able  to  give  the  names 
of  all  the  Delegation  who  formed  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence; but  can  safely  declare  as  to  the  following 
persons  being  of  the  number,  viz.  :  Thomas  Polk, 
Abraham  Alexander,  John  McKnitt  Alexander,  Adam. 
Alexander,  Ephraim  Brevard,  John  Phifer,  Hezekiah 
James  Balsh,  Benjamin  Patton,  Hezekiah  Alexander, 


154  APPENDIX. 

Bichard  Barry,  William  Graham,  Matthew  M'Clure, 
Bobert  Irvvin,  Zachias  Wilson,  Neil  Morrison,  John 
Flenniken,  John  Queary,  Ezra  Alexander. 

In  testimony  of  all  and  every  part  herein  set  forth, 
we  have  hereunto  set  our  hands. 

GEO.  GBAHAM,  aged  61,  near  62. 
WM.  HUTCHISON,       68. 
JONAS  CLABK,  61. 

EOB'T  BOBINSON,      68. 


FROM   JOHN   SIMESON   TO    COL.   WILLIAM   POLK. 

"  Providence,  January  20,  1820. 

"DEAR  SLR, — After  considerable  delay,  occasioned 
partly  to  obtain  what  information  I  could,  in  addition 
to  my  own  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  relation  to  our 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  partly  by  a  precarious, 
feeble  old  age,  I  now  write  to  you  in  answer  to  yours  of 
the  24th  ult. 

"I  have  conversed  with  many  of  my  old  friends  and 
others,  and  all  agree  in  the  point,  but  few  can  state  the 
particulars;  for  although  our  county  is  renowned  for 
general  intelligence,  we  have  still  some  that  don't  read 
the  public  prints.  You  know,  in  the  language  of  the 
day,  every  Province  had  its  Congress,  and  Mecklenburg 
had  its  county  Congress,  as  legally  chosen  as  any  other, 
and  assumed  an  attitude  until  then  without  a  preced- 
ent ;  but,  alas  !  those  worthies  who  conceived  and  exe- 
cuted that  bold  measure,  are  no  more;  and  one  reason 
why  so  little  new  light  can  be  thrown  on  an  old  truth, 
may  be  this — and  I  appeal  to  yourself  for  the  correct- 
ness of  the  remark — we  who  are  now  called  Bevolution- 


APPENDIX.  155 

ary  men,  were  then  thoughtless,  precipitate  youths;  we 
cared  not  who  conceived  the  bold  act,  onr  business  was 
to  adopt  and  support  it.  Yourself,  sir,  in  your  eigh- 
teenth year  and  on  the  spot,  your  worthy  father,  the 
most  popular  and  influential  character  in  the  county, 
and  yet  you  cannot  state  much  from  recollection.  Your 
father,  as  commanding  officer  of  the  county,  issued 
orders  to  the  Captains  to  appoint  two  men  from  each 
company  to  represent  them  in  the  committee. — It  was 
done.  Neill  Morrison,  John  Flenuikin,  from  this  com- 
pany ;  Charles  Alexander,  John  McKnitt  Alexander, 
Hezekiah  Alexander,  Abraham  Alexander,  Esq.,  John 
Phifer,  David  Reese,  Adam  Alexander,  Dickey  Barry, 
John  Queary,  with  others,  whose  names  I  cannot  ob- 
tain. As  to  the  names  of  those  who  drew  up  the  Dec- 
laration, I  am  inclined  to  think  Doctor  Brevard  was 
the  principal,  from  his  known  talents  in  composition. 
It  was,  however,  in  substance  and  form,  like  that  great 
national  act  agreed  on  thirteen  months  after.  Ours 
was  towards  the  close  of  May,  1775.  In  addition  to 
what  I  have  said,  the  same  committee  appointed  three 
men  to  secure  all  the  military  stores  for  the  county's 
use — Thomas  Polk,  John  Phifer,  and  Joseph  Kennedy. 
I  was  under  arms  near  the  head  of  the  line,  near  Col. 
Polk,  and  heard  him  distinctly  read  a  long  string  of 
Grievances,  the  Declaration  and  Military  Order  above. 
I  likewise  heard  Col.  Polk  have  two  warm  disputes  with 
two  men  of  the  county,  who  said  the  measures  were 
rush  and  unnecessary.  He  was  applauded  and  they 
silenced.  I  was  then  in  my  22d  year,  an  enemy  to 
usurpation  and  tyranny  of  every  kind,  with  a  retentive 
memory,  and  fond  of  liberty,  that  had  a  doubt  arisen  in 
my  mind  that  the  act  would  be  controverted,  proof 


156  APPENDIX. 

would  not  have  been  wanting;  but  I  comfort  myself 
that  none  but  the  self-important  peace-party  and  blue- 
lights  of  the  East,  will  have  the  assurance  to  oppose  it 
any  further.  The- biographer  of  Patrick  Henry  (Mr. 
Wirt)  says  he  first  suggested  Independence  in  the  Vir- 
ginia Convention  ;  but  it  is  known  they  did  not  reduce 
it  to  action — so  that  it  will  pass  for  nothing.  The  Courts 
likewise  acted  independently.  I  myself  heard  a  dispute 
take  place  on  the  bench,  and  an  acting  magistrate  was 
actually  taken  and  sent  to  prison  by  an  order  of  the 
Chairman. 

"  Thus,  sir,  have  I  thrown  together  all  that  I  can  at 
this  time.  I  am  too  blind  to  write  fair,  and  too  old  to 
write  much  sense — but  if  my  deposition  before  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  would  add  more 
weight  to  a  truth  so  well  known  here,  it  should  be  at 
the  service  of  my  fellow-citizens  of  the  county  and 
State  generally. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

"JOHN  SIMESON,  Sen. 

"  P.  S. — I  will  give  you  a  short  anecdote.  An  aged 
man  near  me,  on  being  asked  if  he  knew  anything  of 
this  affair,  replied, '  Och,  aye,  TAM  POLK  declared  Inde- 
pendence long  before  any  body  else'  This  old  man  is  81." 


CERTIFICATE    OF    ISAAC   ALEXANDER. 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  was  present  in  Charlotte  on  the 
19th  and  20th  days  of  May,  1775,  when  a  regular  depu- 
tation from  all  the  Captains'  companies  of  militia  in 
the  county  of  Mecklenburg,  to  wit:  Col.  Thomas  Polk, 


APPENDIX.  157 

Adam  Alexander,  Lieut.  Col.  Abram  Alexander,  John 
McKnitt  Alexander,"  Hezekiah  Alexander,  Ephraim 
Brevard,  and  a  number  of  others,  who  met  to  consult 
and  take  measures  for  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the 
citizens  of » said  county,  and  who  appointed  Abraham 
Alexander  their  Chairman,  and  Doctor  Ephraim  Bre- 
vard Secretary;  who,  after  due  consultation,  declared 
themselves  absolved  from  their  allegiance  to  the  King 
of  Great  Britain,  and  drew  up  a  Declaration  of  their 
Independence,  which  was  unanimously  adopted ;  and 
employed  Capt.  James  Jack  to  carry  copies  thereof  to 
Congress,  who  accordingly  went.  These  are  a  part  of 
the  transactions  that  took  place  at  that  time,  as  far  as 
my  recollection  serves  me. 

ISAAC  ALEXANDER. 
October  8,  1830. 


CERTIFICATE   OF   SAM*L   WILSON. 

STATE  OE  NORTH  CAROLINA,  ) 
MECKLENBURG  COUNTY.  [ 

I  do  hereby  certify,  that  in  May,  1775,  a  committee 
or  delegation  from  the  different  militia  companies  in 
this  county  met  in  Charlotte;  and  after  consulting 
together,  they  publicly  declared  their  independence  on 
Great  Britain,  and  on  her  Government.  This  was  done 
before  a  large  collection  of  people,  who  highly  approved 
of  it.  I  was  then  and  there  present,  and  heard  it  read 
from  the  Court  House  door.  Certified  by  me, 

SAM'L  WILSON. 


158  APPENDIX. 

CERTIFICATE   OF  JOHJST  -DAVIDSON". 

Beaver  Dam,  October  5,  1830. 

DEAK  SIR  : — I  received  your  note  of  the  25th  of  last 
month,  requiring  information  relative  to  the  Mecklen- 
burg Declaration  of  Independence.  As  I  am,  perhaps, 
the  only  person  living,  who  was  a  member  of  that  Con- 
vention, and  being  far  advanced  in  years,  and  not  hav- 
ing my  mind  frequently  directed  to  that  circumstance 
for  some  years,  I  can  give  you  but  a  very  succinct  history 
of  that  transaction.  There  were  two  men  chosen  from 
each  captain's  company,  to  meet,  in  Charlotte,  to  take  the 
subject  into  consideration.  John  McKnitt  Alexander 
and  myself  were  chosen  from  one  company;  and  many 
other  members  were  there  that  I  now  recollect,  whose 
names  I  deem  unnecessary  to  mention.  When  the  mem- 
bers met,  and  were  perfectly  organized  for  business,  a 
motion  was  made  to  declare  ourselves  independent  of 
the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,  which  was  carried  by  a 
large  majority.  Dr.  Ephraim  Brevard  was  then  ap- 
pointed to  give  us  a  sketch  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence, which  he  did.  James  Jack  was  appointed  to 
take  it  on  to  the  American  Congress,  then  sitting  in 
Philadelphia,  with  particular  instructions  to  deliver  it 
to  the  North  Carolina  Delegation  in  Congress,  (Hooper 
and  Caswell.)  When  Jack  returned,  he  stated  that  the 
Declaration  was  presented  to  Congress,  and  the  reply 
was,  that  they  highly  esteemed  the  patriotism  of  the 
citizens  of  Mecklenburg ;  but  they  thought  the  measure 
too  premature. 

I  am  confident  that  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
by  the  people  of  Mecklenburg  was  made  public  at  least 


APPENDIX.  159 

twelve  months  before    that    of    the  Congress  of  the 
United  States. 

I  do  certify  that  the  foregoing  statement,  relative  to 
the  Mecklenburg  Independence  is  correct,  and  which  I 
ani  willing  to  be  quali6ed  to,  should  it  be  required. 

Yours  respectfully, 

JOHN  DAVIDSON. 
Doct.  J.  M.  ALEXANDER. 

NOTE. — The  following  is  a  copy  of  an  original  paper  furnished 
by  the  writer  of  the  foregoing  certificate,  from  which  it  would 
seem,  that,  from  the  period  of  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration, 
every  individual  friendly  to  the  American  cause  was  furnished 
by  the  Chairman  of  that  meeting,  ABRAM  ALEXANDER,  with  tes- 
timonials of  the  character  he  had  assumed  ;  and  in  this  point  of 
view  the  paper  affords  strong  collateral  testimony  of  the  correct- 
ness of  many  of  the  foregoing  certificates. 

NORTH  CAROLINA,  MECKLENBURG  COUNTY,) 
November  28,  1775.        J 

These  may  certify  to  all  whom  they  may  concern,  that  the 
bearer  hereof,  William  Henderson,  is  allowed  here  to  be  a  true 
friend  to  liberty,  and  signed  the  Association. 

Certified  by  ABR'M  ALEXANDER,  Chairman 

of  the  Committee  of  P.  S. 


LETTER  FROM  J.    G.   M.  RAMSEY. 

Mecklenburg,  T.  Oct.  1,  1830. 

DEAR  SIR:— Yours  of  21st  ultimo  was  duly  re- 
ceived. In  answer  I  have  only  to  say,  that  little  is  in 
my  possession  on  the  subject  alluded  to  which  you  have 


160  APPENDIX. 

not  already  seen.  Subjoined  are  the  certificates  of  two 
gentlemen  of  this  comity,  whose  respectability  and 
veracity  are  attested  by  their  acquaintances  here,  as  well 
as  by  the  accompanying  testimonials  of  the  magistrates 
in  whose  neighborhood  they  reside.  With  this  you  will 
also  receive  extracts  from  letters  on  the  same  subject 
from  gentlemen  well  known  to  you,  and  to  the  country 
at  large. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  yours,  &c., 

J.  G.  M.  EAMSEY. 


CEETIFICATE   OF   JAMES   JOHNSON". 

I,  James  Johnson,  now  of  Knox  county,  Tennessee, 
but  formerly  of  Mecklenburg  county,  North  Carolina, 
do  hereby  certify,  that  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  in 
the  month  of  May,  1775,  there  were  several  meetings  in 
Charlotte  concerning  the  impending  war.  Being  young, 
I  was  not  called  on  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  same ; 
but  one  thing  I  do  positively  remember,  that  she  (Meck- 
lenburg county)  did  meet  and  hold  a  Convention,  de- 
clared independence,  and  sent  a  man  to  Philadelphia 
with  the  proceedings.  And  I  do  further  certify,  that  I  am 
well  acquainted  with  several  of  the  men  who  formed  or 
constituted  said  Convention,  viz.  John  McKnitt  Alex- 
ander, Hezekiah  Alexander,  Abraham  Alexander,  Adam 
Alexander,  Robert  Irwin,  Neill  Morrison,  John  Flenni- 
ken,  John  Qneary. 

Certified  by  me  this  llth  day  of  October,  1827. 
JAMES  JOHNSON", 

In  my  seventy-third  year. 


APPENDIX.  161 


CEETIFICATE  OF  ELIJAH  JOHXSOX  AND  JAMES  WILHITE. 

We,  Elijah  Johnson  and  James  Wilhite,  acting  Jus- 
tices of  the  Peace  for  the  county  of  Knox,  do  certify, 
that  we  have  been  a  long  time  well  acquainted  with 
Samuel  Montgomery  and  James  Johnson,  both  residents 
of  Knox  county;  and  that  they  are  entitled  to  full 
credit,  and  any  statement  they  may  make  to  implicit 
confidence. 

Given  under  our  hands  and  seals  this  4th  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1830. 

ELIJAH  JOHNSON,  (Seal.) 
JAMES  WILHITE,  (Seal.) 
Justices  of  the  Peace  for  Knox  county.    ' 

NOTE. — Mr.  Montgomery's  certificate  does  not  purport  to  state 
the  facts  as  having  come  under  his  own  personal  observation. 
It  is  therefore  omitted  in  this  publication. 


AUTOGRAPHS 

OF  THE 

SIGNERS  OF  THE  MECKLENBURG  DECLARATION, 


(&*~fy»- 

fotf 
Jffar*/ 


THE  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  100TH  ANNI- 
VERSARY OF  THE  MECKLENBURG  DE- 
CLARATION. 

The  20th  May  Celebration,  1875. 

The  following  were  the  Committees  appointed  by 
a  citizens'  meeting  held  at  Charlotte,  N.  C.,  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  20th  of  May  celebration,  1875  : 

General  Executive  Committee. — S.  B.  Alexander, 
Thos.  W.  Dewey,  ."Wm.  Johnston,  C.  Dowd,  J.  C. 
Burroughs,  Thos.  J.  Moore,  Robt.  I.  McDowell,  S. 
Wittkowsky,  R.  Y.  McAden  and  John  E.  Brown. 
Dr.  Joseph  Graham  was  added  to  the  Committee  as 
chairman  thereof. 

Committee  on  Orators. — Gov.  Z.  B.  Vance,  Hon. 
W.  M.  Sliipp  and  Gen.  D.  H.  Hill. 

Committee  on  /Subscription. — Gen.  J.  A.  Young, 
chairman  ;  Chas.  R.  Jones,  D.  G.  Maxwell,  A.  Ma- 
caulay,  S.  P.  Smith,  Jno.  W.  Wadsworth  and  F.  A. 
McNinch. 

Committee  on  Finance. — Jos.  H.  Wilson,  chair- 
man; Gen.  R.  Barringer  and  John  L.  Brown. 

Committee  on  the  Press. — W.  J.  Yates,  chairman  ; 
W.  F.  A  very  and  C.  R.  Jones. 

Committee  on  Fire  and  Military  Companies. — J. 
H.  Orr,  chairman  ;  F.  A.  McNinch,  N.  C.  Harry 
and  D.  M.  Rigler. 

Committee  on  Artillery  and  Fire  Works. — Col. 
Thos.  H.  Brem,  Sr.,  chairman  ;  John  Wilkes,'  T.  L. 
Seigle,  F.  H.  Dewey,  Thos.  II.  Alien  and  P.  Ludwig. 


166  COMMITTEES. 

Committee  to  Canvass  the  County. — Col.  H.  C. 
Jones,  chairman  ;  R.  A.  Springs,  Jas.  F.  Johnston, 
E.  C.  Davidson,  T.  L.  Tail,  Cof.  W.  R.  Myers,  Wm. 
Johnston,  R.  Barringer,  0.  Dowd  and  J.  A.  Young. 

Commissary  Committee. — Jas.  F.  Johnston,  chair- 
man ;  R.  M.  Miller,  D.  M.  Rigler,  Josiah  Asburj, 
Jas.  F.  Davidson,  Thos.  Grier,  Robt.  E.  Cochrane, 
L.  W.  Sanders,  J.  S.  M.  Davidson,  Chas.  "W.  Alex- 
ander, Capt.  S.  Roessler,  P.  S.  Whisnant,  Walter 
Brem,  Frank  Wilson,  A.  R.  Nisbet  and  D.  W.  Gates. 

deception  Committee. — J.  Y.  Bryce,  chairman; 
J.  M.  Miller,  J.  L.  Morehead,  W.  H.  H.  Gregory,  R. 
D.  Graham,  Geo.  E.  Wilson,  W.  W.  Phifer,  W.  H. 
Bailey,  Gen.  Prince,  S.  A.  Cohen  and  A.  B.  David- 
son. 

AUXILIARY  TOWNSHIP  COMMITTEES. 

Mallard  Creek. — Wm.  D.  Alexander,  J.  H.  Che- 
shire and  J.  R.  DeArmond. 

Lemley's. — Dr.  J.  M.  Wilson,  Dr.  Brevard  Alexan- 
der and  W.  B.  Withers. 

Deweese. — H.  P.  Helper,  W.  P.  Williams  and  Rev. 
Chas.  Phillips,  D.D. 

Long  Creek. — R.  D.  Whitley,  J.  Springs  Davidson 
and  Dr.  E.  A.  Sample. 

Paw  Creek. — Wm.  Todd,  H.  J.  Rhyne,  and  Jas. 
Beattie. 

£erryhill.—R.  D.  Collins,  B.  F.  Brown  and  T.  B. 
Price. 

Steel  Oreeh—Gen.  W.  H.  Neal,  Dr.  J.  M.  Strong 
and  S.  Watson  Reid. 


COMMITTEES.  167 

Pinemlle. — J.  A.  Younts,  J.  "W.  Morrow  and  J. 
R.  Kirkpatrick. 

Providence. — H.  M.  Parks,  E.  C.  Grier  and  Henry 
Bryant. 

Clear  Creek.— Eli  Hinson,  D.  W.  Flow  and  Eobt. 
Henderson. 

Morning  Star.— 3.  II.  Irwin,  J.  W.  Hood  and  D. 
E.  Hooks. 

Sharon. — I.  N.  Alexander,  Dr.  C.  L.  Hutchison 
and  R.  B.  Hunter. 

Crab  Orchard. — J.  R.  Baker,  E.  P.  Cochrane  and 
"VVm.  McOombs. 

Charlotte. — B.  H.  Moore,  J.  P.  Alexander  and  Dr. 
W.  J.  Hayes. 


